By
Kodjo Adams, GNA
Accra, March 26, GNA –
The Second Lady Samira Bawumia, has said investing in women entrepreneurship
has a multiplier effects to the country’s socio-economic growth.
She said women were
engaged in various economic activities that had translated into advanced
growth, calling for concerted effort to focus on their contributions towards
the acceleration of the country’s inclusive growth.
The Second Lady said
this on Tuesday in Accra at the launch of a report: “Profiting from Parity:
Unlocking the Potential of Women’s Business in Africa”, conducted by the World
Bank Group.
“An educated woman is
more likely to have a safe delivery with better prospects of having a
prosperous family”.
Empowering women
entrepreneurs, the Second Lady said, contributed to the smartest economies in
today’s strategic development.
“Entrepreneurship is
vital for every country’s development, its economic growth and job creation.
Without entrepreneurship, there would be little innovation and productivity,
she added.
Mrs Bawumia said the
Sub-Sahara Africa had the highest rate of entrepreneurship in the world with
approximately 42 per cent of the non-agriculture labour force classified as
self-employed and employers.
“As a result of this
phenomenon, most entrepreneurs are unable to grow their business beyond small
scale subsistence operations, which is impeding their contributions to poverty
reduction and shared prosperity”.
The World Bank report,
states that, almost 50 per cent of women in the non-agriculture labour force
were entrepreneurs. World Bank report of 2012 indicated that women were the
third largest emerging market after China and India.
The Ghana Statistical
Service estimated that women make up about 50.5 per cent of the labour force.
However, in Ghana,
about 80 per cent of women are engaged in various economic activities and
predominantly operating in a small and medium enterprises of the economy.
The Second Lady said
the Sustainable Development Goal five; aimed to achieve gender equality and
empower all women and girls by 2030, adding that, women and men have equal
opportunity to shape their own life and contribute to an enhanced productivity
and improved development outcomes.
Mrs Bawumia said women
faces many challenges and had to deal with many constraints in the pursuit of
economic and entrepreneurial empowerment, including lower levels of education,
financial illiteracy, and lower income levels.
She stated that,
government had reaffirmed its continuous support to promoting women issues in
the country, adding that, the Ministry of Business development through the
women and the entrepreneurship programme have so far allocated GH¢10 million to
support women entrepreneurship
The report focuses on
the challenges that African women entrepreneur faced and identifies practical
solutions.
It offers policy
makers evidence-based guidance on designing programmes to target multiple
obstacles and improve the performance of women entrepreneurs.
The report calls on
African government to target on key policy areas to help empower female
entrepreneurs.
GNA
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