Women's Development Bank Licence Application Sent to Bank of Ghana

A banking licence application for the proposed Women's Development Bank is now with the Bank of Ghana, Vice-President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has announced.

She said the committee set up to oversee the bank's creation had concluded its work and forwarded the application to the central bank through the Ministry of Finance for regulatory review, as first reported by Graphic Online.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang made the announcement in Accra at the Ghana Women Entrepreneurship Summit (GWES) 2026, held under the theme "Empowering women to drive trade and industrial growth."

According to the Vice-President, the committee was made up of market women, susu collectors, representatives of women's business associations and finance professionals, so that the bank would be shaped by the needs of the women it is meant to serve.

Also read: Baah Agyemang to Seek NPP Ticket for Asante Akyem North Seat

She described the planned institution as one that would operate on the front line, bringing financial services to women who have struggled to use formal banking.

"The work is conceived as a frontline institution that will bring financial services within reach of women who have long found professional banking difficult to access," she said.

She added that the bank's aim went beyond lending, saying its purpose "is not merely to gain credit, but also to provide financial services that will support and reach so many of our women who conduct businesses".

The Vice-President received a citation at the event in recognition of the Women's Bank initiative.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang called for better access to affordable finance for women entrepreneurs, arguing that Ghana could not realise its full economic potential while women-owned businesses faced obstacles to growth.

She said women run roughly eight in every 10 businesses in the informal sector, yet control only about 10 per cent of large enterprises.

"We have to make it possible for more women to take the business they have built as far as their ambition and ability can take them," she said.

The Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, said women had the creativity, resilience and entrepreneurial ability to build competitive local firms, enter international markets and create lasting jobs.

She stressed the need to give women the knowledge and skills to deal with financial systems, meet business requirements and make use of existing support programmes. The minister also urged greater investment in training, quality standards and market readiness so that women-led firms could compete in domestic, regional and international trade.

Mrs Ofosu-Adjare encouraged women entrepreneurs to use networking platforms to share ideas and experiences, receive feedback and build relationships to help their businesses grow.

Margaret Ansei, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Enterprises Agency, said the agency was developing links with potential buyers and partners overseas so that successful women-owned businesses in Ghana could compete fairly on the international market.

A Youth Enterprise launchpad was also introduced at the summit, which received support from the Mastercard Foundation, MTN, Camfed and Compassion.