Female entrepreneurs in Ghana and 15 other Sub-Saharan African countries have been found to be more likely to access credit as compared to their male counterparts.

This is according to a research conducted by an Economist at the Department of Economics at the University of Copenhagen Professor, John Rand.

The study was facilitated by the University of Ghana’s Development Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Center of Research Excellence with the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) in partnership with the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology.

The survey which examined the credit accessibility among male and female manufacturing entrepreneurs shows that small enterprises owned by females in Sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to be given credit compared with their male counterparts.

The report indicated that Micro Finance companies are giving credits to female entrepreneurs not necessarily because of their competencies or their profit rates but on gender favouritism.

Professor John Rand, an Economist at the Department of Economics – University of Copenhagen said Micro Finance institutions have deliberately been targeting female operated firms – a phenomenon he tells Joy Business could to some extent set a bad precedence since the playing field has been made unequal. He wants financial institutions to make credit available to manufacturing firms devoid of their demographics.

According to him, access to credit should be based purely on efficiency, long-run economic growth.

He advocates therefore that resources should be allocated the best possible way to the most efficient firms.