Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, the Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, has reaffirmed her commitment to design and formulate a clear and consistent Policy Framework for empowering Women in Industry.
She said the move would ensure optimal mobilization and deployment of the policy options, instruments and resources available to the government to transform the economic power and strategic role of women in Trade, Agribusiness and Industry.
Mrs Ofosu-Adjare was speaking at the launch of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Women and Youth Wing (GNCCI- WAY) on the theme: “Empowering Women and Youth Entrepreneurs for Economic Development.”
GNCCI-WAY is a dedicated wing within the GNCCI, established to offer focused support to women and youth entrepreneurs.
The initiative sought to promote entrepreneurship by fostering a culture of innovation and providing women and youth with the skills, knowledge, and support they need to start and grow successful businesses.
It also focuses on economic empowerment, ensuring access to vital resources such as finance, markets, and business development services.
The Minister said the initiative was a welcomed development as the Ministry and other Ministries reset the government’s agenda to address challenges faced by women and youth.
The challenges include access to finance and markets, ease of regulatory compliance, business development services and an enabling environment for inclusive, sustainable and competitive entrepreneurship development and job creation.
“I have pledged to develop and launch the “Feed the Industry” Project (in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture) to ensure availability of adequate and sustainable supply of agricultural raw material inputs to industry, to significantly enhance imports substitution and boost the export of processed food products.”
Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said this would contribute to creating commercial opportunities for women and youth as active beneficiaries of raw material supply chains of local manufacturers and as active participants in a lucrative trade and distribution chain for Made in Ghana products.
Dr Mrs Emelia Asiakwa, the First Vice President of GNCCI, said the initiative was designed to foster economic empowerment and entrepreneurship among women and youth and capacity building was another cornerstone of GNCCI-WAY’s mission, enhancing business management, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills among women and youth.
She said the wing aimed to facilitate networking and partnerships, connecting women and youth entrepreneurs with stakeholders across the private sector and beyond.
She said the theme was important to their unwavering commitment to fostering inclusive economic growth by providing targeted support to women and youth within the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
