Mohammed Awal
The Minister for Business Development, Mohammed Awal, has expressed worry over the low participation of women in the country’s private business sector.
According to the minister, Ghana cannot
build a prosperous economy without a shift in the trend where majority of
business owners and members of executive boards of businesses continue to be
men.
“When I look at the membership in
this building, less than 10 per cent are women. We cannot build a prosperous
economy without inclusiveness and I want you to deliberately help women
succeed,” he said.
Mr. Awal was speaking at a Chief
Executive Officers (CEOs) breakfast meeting to commemorate the centenary
celebration of the Ghana International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Accra.
Addressing the ICC members and guests at the
event themed: “Creating an enabling environment for business to work for
everyone, everyday and everywhere in Ghana”, he said less than 30 per cent of
women are on boards and executive positions in the country, a situation he
indicated does not auger well for business.
“You cannot develop this country
without a deliberate support to women businesses. Sixty-two per cent of all new
businesses in this country for the past 50 years are being funded by women – 38
per cent of that are women less than 35 years,” he said.
“I want to urge ICC to have
policies and programmes to develop the capacity of our women to do business if
we want to grow Ghana beyond where we are,” he noted.
The sector minister further
called on the ICC to use its experience
and leverage to support already established businesses in the country to go
beyond its first generation.
He said research shows that 75
per cent of businesses in Ghana do not go beyond the founders, with only about
15 to 20 per cent going beyond the founders.
His Lordship, Justice Date-Bah, Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Experts of the Company’s Act 2019, took participants through the new Company’s Act and its implications for businesses in the country.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
