Senior Presidential Advisor and Aide to President John Dramani Mahama, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, has called for reforms to Ghana’s financial system to improve access to capital for women and women-owned businesses.

She says the growing participation of women in formal financial services must translate into better access to funding, affordable lending terms and opportunities to expand their businesses.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, October 8, Mrs Bawah Mogtari cited figures for the second quarter of 2026 showing that women and women-owned businesses accounted for 82.8% of secured credit transactions but received GH¢3.1 billion in secured credit, compared with GH¢19.4 billion for male borrowers and male-owned businesses.

“The question, therefore, is no longer simply whether women are participating in the financial system. It is whether the financial system is giving women the capital, terms and opportunities they need to grow,” she wrote.

She called for more affordable loans, flexible collateral requirements, access to patient capital and deliberate support for women-led industries. She also identified the proposed Women’s Bank as part of efforts to address the financing gap, insisting that investment in women must be central to Ghana’s development agenda.

“If we are serious about building inclusive, resilient and prosperous economies, then investing in women cannot be an afterthought. It must be at the heart of our development agenda,” she added.