1000 Specially-Abled Female Entrepreneurs Empowered By A New Initiative In Ghana

President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on May 1st, announced the establishment of USD 775K fund to boost businesses of disabled women entrepreneurs in Ghana to enable them to bolster their businesses.

The Presidential Empowerment Programme for Disabled Women Entrepreneurs was unveiled yesterday at a brief meeting held at Jubilee House in Accra where the president presented USD 388K, which has so far been raised, to 1000 women entrepreneurs.

The beneficiaries of the fund will not be required to pay any interest on the amount they will be given to expand their businesses. They will however pay back 50 percent of the principal advanced to them.

The aim of the initiative is to support women entrepreneurs and help improve the livelihood of disabled women.

Speaking at the launch, President Akufo-Addo said a fund target of USD 775K had been set over the next two years to support businesses of disabled women entrepreneurs. “We anticipate that, with the monies being given to them today, they will and should be able to employ, at least, two persons,” he said.

“Government is confident that through this initiative, the conditions of our disabled women entrepreneurs can be improved significantly so that they can take advantage of the growing business friendly environment in the country and also take advantage of the numerous opportunities available,” he said.

While addressing the gathering, the President also noted that over the last decade in Ghana, newly created businesses have been run and owned by women, as opposed to being owned or managed by men. For this reason, the president said the state will focus on the quality of women entrepreneurship in the country, to help achieve the goals of sustainable, inclusive growth, enhanced livelihoods, and the creation of jobs.

The Minister of Business Development, Mohammed Ibrahim Awal also spoke during the ceremony and he said the beneficiaries of this fund had struggled to get support to scale up their businesses. He keenly pointed out the only way the country’s economy could grow significantly was to create more entrepreneurs further stating that the ministry was keen to support a lot of businesses owned by disabled women.

Featured Image Courtesy: The National