“A woman is a full circle; within her is the power to create, nurture and transform” -  Diane Mariechild.

Challenge

Women make up 40 percent of the world’s workforce. Many of the sectors that are critical for economic growth in some developing countries rely heavily on women. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with female ownership represent 30% to 37% of all SMEs in emerging markets.

These businesses have unmet financial needs of between US$260 billion and US$320 billion a year. This is their biggest barrier to growth and development.

Women own up to one third of businesses in Ghana, however, they have special challenges.

A study of women entrepreneurs in Ghana found that women have weaker human capital, lack access to financial services, such as savings, digital payment methods, and insurance as well as lack networks resulting in weak understanding of market demand and thus limiting their opportunities.

The survey conducted during the Miatowo Project Phase I by the Global Shapers Ho Hub revealed that the majority of market women trading in the informal sector have poor financial literacy practices. Indeed, most of the market women actually had no savings plan and poor business management skills.

To address these challenges, the Global Shapers Ho hub embarked on the Miatowo Project Phase II, literally meaning ‘’it is ours’’ in Ewe, a Ghanaian local dialect.

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Sector: Trade

Targeted Group: Market women

Mechanism: Capacity building, women empowerment

The project was designed to give the market women advice on running their businesses, access to funding, as well as business relationships that could help them succeed.

Mr. Tsonam Cleanse Akpeloo, Ho Hub Curator, started the workshop with a brief introduction of the Global Shapers Ho Hub and highlighted on projects undertaken by the Hub. He appreciated the market leaders for their support and gave the opportunity to other Global Shapers present to share some few words.

Mr. William Edem Senyo and Courage C. Tetteh, members of the Global Shapers Ho Hub engaged the market women on the topics“Design Thinking& Customer Relationship”. William iterated that design thinking was one of the innovative ways of ensuring customer satisfaction and increasing sales.

It meant showing empathy by trying to understand things from other people’s perspective. He said for the market women to be able to satisfy their customers, they needed to know their customers and understand their preferences. This could be done through observation and unstructured interviews.

Courage C. Tetteh mentioned that customers are the Kings and Queens of every business and hence understanding them is key to the survival of every business. He said customer expectations could change dramatically when economic conditions are unstable. It is therefore pertinent to find out what mattered to customers at a point in time.

Ms. Aurora Chiste, a Global Shaper from the Guadalajara Hub expressed how impressed she was at the enthusiasm of the market women.

She said it was apparent they were hardworking people and encouraged them to leverage on what was being taught to scale up their businesses. Aurora concluded by asking the participants to keep their eyes focused on their dream and drive their businesses in the direction that will help them achieve their dreams.

Butawu Rural Bank also took the market women through some financial models for their businesses. They covered effective financial management skills, how to raise capital to expand their business&some bank products. Opportunities were given to the market women to open cashless bank accounts with the Rural Bank.

The queenmother of the Ho market and the market leaders expressed their excitement & enthusiasmtowards the Miatowo Project Phase II.They thanked the Global Shapers Ho Hub for exposing the market women to the best saving practices, saving schemes and financial tools available to help them grow and manage their businesses.

They hinted that this would go a long way in mitigating the core financial challenges faced by the market women in Homaking their success stories inspiring enough for other women to invest in their businesses, and boost profits.

The market women also expressed their appreciation & gratitude for the knowledge & insights given them. They promised to use the knowledge & the opportunities to manage their business effectively and also impact the “Miatowo Experience” to other market women in the other markets.

The Global Shapers Ho Hub thanked the Chairman of the Butawu Rural Bank, Mr. Ruben Atekpe, for his personal commitment to the success of the Miatowo Project Phase II & promised to continue to track progress and provide technical guidance to the participants of the MIATOWO Project so that their businesses will make a huge difference in the economy and in the world overall. 

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