Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA) President Dr Joseph Obeng says the government’s plan to set up a Women’s Bank has brought real hope to many traders who are trapped in harsh lending systems.

He said the idea is one of the things the business community welcomed in the new budget because it tackles a long-standing crisis for female traders.

Dr Obeng explained that many women avoid mainstream banks and depend on microfinance, susu groups, and other credit sources that charge punishing rates.

According to him, this leaves them stuck in a cycle of poverty.

“Among what we liked about the budget is the intended establishment of the women’s bank. In fact, it’s coming to solve a problem for us. Seriously, our women are very vulnerable.

"And then they normally do not do business with the mainstream banks, and they do their business with the microfinance and the susu systems and all manner of credit that they secure at a very exorbitant price that makes them wallow in poverty because they can actually not even pay the interest and all that.”

Dr Joseph Obeng praised the government for the initiative but stressed that the crisis goes beyond women. He said many men in the trading sector are equally weak and struggling.

“So government have done well, but as we are thanking government for that, we will also want to appeal to government that some of our men are as weak as the women.

"So we should find a way to also tie them up somewhere and then those vulnerable people also get something, and so we thank government for that.”

Dr Joseph Obeng said the new bank will be a lifeline. But he believes any real fix must include support for men who are slipping deeper into hardship.