The Development Bank Ghana (DBG) in partnership with The African Network of Entrepreneurs (TANOE) has embarked on a capacity-building training targeted at women-owned and women-led business across the country.

The campaign aims to reach out to a set target of 5,000 women equipping them with technical assistance and access to financial support to enhance the creditworthiness of their businesses, facilitate job creation and ensure long-term continuous growth and sustainability.

The campaign, dubbed ‘WomanRising 5000’ is a women’s economic impact project aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs with the necessary tools and resources to help them succeed in their respective businesses, expand their operations, increase their staff strength, and build systems and structures to ensure longevity of their businesses.

In line with achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 5, DBG is poised to ensure the full and effective participation of women as well as equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making and gender balance across all levels of management.

It is against this background that DBG aligned with TANOE to invest in women entrepreneurs and help them increase their capacities with regard to their businesses.

Commenting on this, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of DBG, Michael Mensah-Baah said that “as a bank, we are interested and committed to the improvement of women-led and women-owned businesses. We acknowledge that we can achieve this by tackling the foundations, which is providing first the knowledge and education needed to bring about the desired transformation, and after that, provide the means by which these entrepreneurs can access the finances to scale-up their businesses.”

In Ghana, women-led businesses have contributed significantly to the growth and development of the economy, accounting for 44% of all micro, small and medium enterprises in the country.

The contribution of women-businesses in Ghana is further emphasised in the MasterCard Index of Women Entrepreneurs which in 2020 ranked Ghana (36.5 percent) among the world’s three leading economies with most women-owned businesses with Uganda (39.6 percent) and Botswana (38.5 percent).

Through the campaign, women entrepreneurs were offered a range of resources including access to finance, training programs, mentorship opportunities and networking events. By providing these resources, DBG and TANOE aimed to ensure that women entrepreneurs were equipped to overcome the unique challenges they face in the business world.

The first phase of the capacity building programme was concluded in the month of July with over five hundred women entrepreneurs participating in various training sessions that took place across five regions, namely, Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central, Western and Volta.

TANOE has over the years been and remains focused on making entrepreneurship a sustainable solution to unemployment. They do this by training and empowering students and the youth to develop their talents, entrepreneurial abilities and skills, supporting women and start-up entrepreneurs with resources and relevant information to sustain and grow their businesses.

Development Bank Ghana is a wholesale financial institution established by the Government of Ghana. DBG acts as a provider of long-term capital to the market with a mission to foster strong partnerships to finance economic growth, create jobs, and build capacity for SMEs.

The organisation is committed, aligned and strengthened to achieve UN Sustainable Goals (SDGs) ambitions and targets while implementing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy aimed at creating shared value and impact with purpose.