The economic landscape of the Ashanti Region is witnessing a decisive shift as policymakers and industry leaders converge to redefine the role of female entrepreneurs in the national development agenda.
At the 2026 edition of the Women in Business (WIB) Dialogue Series in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, issued a clarion call for a renewed, structural commitment to women-led enterprises.
This engagement, organized by the Business and Financial Times (B&FT) in partnership with Ecobank Ghana, signals a departure from traditional advocacy toward a more aggressive, results-oriented framework designed to transition women from the fringes of the informal sector into the center of global market leadership.
“This business dialogue series is therefore not just an event. It is a call to action. A call to equip our women entrepreneurs with the tools they need to scale up their businesses. A call to strengthen networks that open doors to new markets and opportunities. And a call to build resilient enterprises that can thrive in an increasingly competitive and digital global economy”
Dr. Frank Amoakohene, Ashanti Regional Minister
From the high-energy trading hubs of Kumasi to the sprawling agricultural centers that feed the nation, women-led enterprises are the invisible hands sustaining local livelihoods and ensuring food security. The Minister’s address focused on the undeniable reality that women remain the primary engine of commerce within the Ashanti Region and across Ghana at large.
However, Dr. Amoakohene argued that their current status as the backbone of the economy is no longer sufficient; the goal now is to provide them with the sophisticated tools and capital necessary to scale their operations in an increasingly competitive and digital global economy.
Central to this transformative vision is a significant shift in how the state facilitates access to capital. Dr. Amoakohene highlighted a major government intervention: the establishment of a dedicated Women’s Development Bank. This institution is a specialized fiscal tool backed by substantial budgetary allocations.
The initiative aims to provide 200,000 women in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector with direct financial support this year alone. The figure is part of a much broader, more ambitious national target to economically empower at least one million Ghanaian women through a combination of enhanced financial literacy and affordable credit.
Dr. Amoakohene’s emphasis on “affordable” credit was a direct response to the prohibitive interest rates and collateral requirements that have locked women out of traditional banking systems in the past. The government is attempting to dismantle the primary barrier to growth through the creation of a bank specifically tailored to the unique risk profiles and operational realities of women-owned businesses.
The Minister noted that this year’s rollout is a critical test of the state’s ability to move beyond dialogue and into the realm of actionable financial inclusion. The success of these interventions is expected to have a multiplier effect, as every woman who successfully scales her business typically reinvests a higher percentage of her earnings back into her family and community.
Breaking The Survivalist Cycle
While the Minister focused on the political and financial mandates, the Chief Executive Officer of the Business and Financial Times, Dr. Godwin Acquaye, provided a sobering analysis of the structural barriers that keep many women-led businesses in a survivalist mode.
He noted that while women dominate key sectors like agriculture and trade, their participation is often limited to micro-scale operations that lack the resilience to survive economic shocks.
The theme of the 2026 dialogue, ‘From Market-to-Market Leader,’ was chosen specifically to confront the reality that many female entrepreneurs are currently trapped in survival-level operations due to a lack of formalization and market access.
Dr. Acquaye stressed that the transition from survival to scale requires a deliberate and targeted support system that addresses more than just funding. He argued that the current economic climate demands that women be positioned as market leaders rather than mere contributors.
This involves a radical rethink of how these businesses are integrated into national supply chains. To move from being a trader in a local market to a leader in a regional value chain, women require practical training in digital skills, management, and the nuances of international trade standards.
Without these competencies, even the most generous financial support will only provide temporary relief rather than sustainable growth.
A significant portion of the discourse in Kumasi was dedicated to the agribusiness sector, which both Dr. Amoakohene and Dr. Acquaye identified as the most viable path for inclusive growth. In the Ashanti Region, where agriculture is a pillar of the local economy, the focus is shifting toward empowering young women within agricultural value chains.
The objective is to move these young entrepreneurs beyond primary production – which is often low-margin and labor-intensive – and into agro-processing and specialized marketing. This transformation is seen as a way to enhance productivity and strengthen the national food system while simultaneously boosting rural incomes.
The Regional Minister asserted that the focus on agribusiness is a strategic move to transform entire value chains, empowering young women to take the lead in processing and distribution, to reduce post-harvest losses, and create high-value products that can compete in both local and international markets.
This strategy aligns with the broader push for industrialization, where the goal is to add value to Ghana’s raw materials before they leave the farm gate. The regional government has pledged to create an enabling environment for these agribusinesses through sustained policy support and partnerships with financial institutions and international development agencies.
As the global economy becomes increasingly digitized, the gap in digital skills has emerged as a major threat to the competitiveness of women-led SMEs. Dr. Amoakohene pointed out that many female entrepreneurs are currently excluded from the benefits of e-commerce and digital financial services.
Addressing this digital divide is now a top priority for the Ashanti Regional administration. The Minister encouraged women to leverage the networking and training opportunities provided by the WIB Dialogue Series to bridge this gap. He stressed that a business that cannot operate in the digital space in 2026 is effectively invisible to the global market.
The dialogue also emphasized the importance of formalization, as many women-led businesses operate in the informal sector, which limits their ability to access government contracts, export opportunities, and large-scale private sector partnerships.
By providing a platform for dialogue among government, financial institutions, and the private sector, the WIB Series aims to simplify the path to formalization. The goal is to move these enterprises into a more structured environment where they can be properly tracked, supported, and integrated into the formal economy.
This shift is critical for building resilient enterprises that can withstand the pressures of a competitive global marketplace.
The 2026 Women in Business Dialogue Series in Kumasi represents a pivotal moment for the Ashanti Region’s economic trajectory. It has successfully moved the conversation beyond the traditional focus on “microfinance” and “small-scale support” toward a much larger vision of industrial leadership and market dominance.
The partnership between the Ashanti Regional Ministry, the B&FT, and financial heavyweights like Ecobank Ghana suggests that the state and private sector are finally aligning their interests to solve the structural problems facing female entrepreneurs.
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