Accra: President John Dramani Mahama has announced significant progress in the establishment of a Women's Bank aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs, particularly in the shea industry in Ghana's northern region.
According to Ghana Web, Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, who leads the initiative, has informed the President that notable advancements have been made, and a detailed presentation on the bank's structure and objectives will soon be submitted to the Cabinet for further consideration.
President Mahama shared this development during the official launch of the Sheapark Resource Hub Project at the Wa Naa's Palace in Wa, the Upper West Regional capital. The Women's Bank is designed to support mothers involved in the shea nut industry, a major livelihood source for many women in the region. The initiative is championed by Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin and Professor Kwame Addo as part of the government's efforts to strengthen the shea industry through value addition.
The President highlighted that during the shea-nut picking seasons, women would receive small credits to facilitate the collection of nuts. The facility would enable cooperatives to hire tricycles for transporting women to and from nut-collecting areas, reducing the physical burden on them. Emphasizing the central role of women in the initiative, President Mahama also mentioned the distribution of protective gear to women in the industry, including 3,000 pairs of Wellington boots and 3,200 gloves, to guard against snake and scorpion bites.
The Sheapark Hub, envisioned as a world-class phased agro-industrial ecosystem, will focus on sustainability, innovation, and inclusion. It will house modern shea processing facilities for various productions, including cosmetic, food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical, alongside quality control laboratories, training centers, and logistics facilities. The Hub will also feature solar-powered energy solutions and water treatment plants, supporting business incubation and export facilitation.
At full maturity, the Sheapark ecosystem is projected to empower over 7,000 women in the Upper West region while creating additional jobs for the youth. The project will anchor value chains for shea and associated products, such as groundnuts, soya beans, and cotton. President Mahama explained that the Sheapark Resource Project aligns with the government's Reset Agenda, focusing on adding value to products before export, extending to commodities like cashew, cassava, oil palm, and minerals.