Ghana: Access Bank empowers Women to mark Entrepreneurship Day

From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

In commemoration of global Women Entrepreneurship Day (WED), Access Bank Ghana has empowered over 60 market women from Makola Market in Accra, Ghana.
The workshop organized under the Bank’s flagship programme, the ‘W’ Initiative, was in partnership with the Makola Institute to build the capacity of women business owners. Key topics covered included: Basic Book Keeping, Cash Flow Management, Stock Keeping, Maintaining a Good Banking Relationship and Customer Service.
Speaking to the participants, Head of the Makola Institute, Mrs. Comfort Oduro Nyarko encouraged the women to constantly review their business performance to ensure growth and sustainability.
“Commitment to growing your business and ensuring its longevity requires attention to detail and consistency in serving your customers. As a business owner you cannot take the slightest issue for granted because that can likely affect your business venture” she added.
In his opening remarks, the Divisional Head for Retail Banking at Access Bank, Mr. Stephen Abban told participants that capacity building workshops, under the ‘W’ Initiative was instituted to enable women businesses to stay competitive and profitable.
Mr. Abban said the ‘W’ Initiative is central to the Bank’s financial inclusion strategy because more than half of Ghana’s population is female. “By supporting women businesses to succeed, we are supporting their families, the community and the nation’s economic growth agenda” he said.
The Group Head for Personal Banking at Access Bank, Mrs. Matilda Asante-Asiedu used the occasion to emphasize the benefits of signing onto the ‘W’ Initiative. She said ‘W’ is empowering women with knowledge, networking and access to markets to expand their businesses and she invited women who have not signed on to do so.
This year’s WED is celebrated under the theme “Grit: Secret Recipes of Successful Women Entrepreneurs” and will be observed in over 144 countries. Since the launch of the W’ Initiative in May 2015, 30,000 women have benefited from various workshops across the country including the recent collaboration with FMO – the Dutch Development Bank in the Female Leadership Journey.
The ‘W’ Initiative seeks to inspire, connect and empower women across the country by offering a bundle of tailor made products, services and opportunities to young women professionals, women with family and women in business.