Women are Ghana's underutilised engine of growth – Trade Minister

The Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has described women as Ghana’s “underutilised engine of national growth,” emphasising that the country cannot achieve its economic ambitions while leaving half of its population untapped.

Speaking at the 2026 Ghana Female CEOs Summit held at the Kempinski Hotel on May 7, 2026, she stated that women’s economic participation should be viewed as a national economic priority rather than merely a social issue.

The minister acknowledged the challenges women face in leadership and praised female business leaders for their resilience.

“I know the discipline, the resilience, and the quiet determination it takes to lead while being watched differently, judged differently, and held to a different standard,” she remarked.

Ofosu-Adjare commended the female chief executives for building businesses, creating jobs, and “refusing to be a footnote in Ghana’s growth story,” adding that their enterprises demonstrate how “assets and ambition, when combined, produce extraordinary results.”

She pointed out that women make up 51% of Ghana’s population and play a critical role in agriculture and the food sector.

Citing data from the IFC and McKinsey, she noted that closing the gender financing gap for SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa could unlock $42 billion annually, while advancing women’s equality across Africa could add $316 billion to the continent’s GDP.

Ofosu-Adjare described empowering women as the “single fastest route” to household prosperity and national resilience, noting that women tend to reinvest most of their income into their families and communities.

To support women-led businesses, the government is establishing the Ghana Women’s Development Bank, which she said would be “the most targeted financial intervention for women in this country’s history.”

“Women’s economic participation is not a gender programme; it is our national competitiveness strategy,” she emphasised, urging stakeholders to turn discussions into measurable action.

NAD/MA

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