Accra: The Network for Women's Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) has urged the Government to make the Women's Development Bank (WDB) work for rural businesses, particularly those owned by women, youth, and marginalized groups, while encouraging the acceleration of its operationalization. The organization emphasized the importance of addressing systemic challenges that hinder women from accessing funds through traditional banking and financial systems.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mrs. Patricia Blankson Akakpo, the Head of NETRIGHT Secretariat, made this appeal during a forum centered on 'Promoting inclusive and gender-responsive budget priorities through citizens' engagement.' The call comes after the government allocated a GHS51.3 million seed fund in 2025 for the bank's establishment and an additional GHS401 million in the 2026 budget to support women-owned Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Despite the total allocation of GHS452.3 million in the 2025 and 2026 budgets, the Women's Development Bank is yet to be operationalized, raising concerns among rural women, businesses, and entrepreneurs about delays in accessing these services.
Mrs. Akakpo highlighted that while the allocations are a positive step forward, significant questions remain about the bank's mandate, structure, target beneficiaries, and selection process. She also expressed concerns about the bank's ability to address longstanding challenges, such as collateral requirements, documentation, and high-interest rates, which have historically excluded rural women from the traditional banking system. She questioned the modalities of the bank's structure and how women could access the funds.
NETRIGHT has made recommendations to the Ministry of Finance to incorporate these issues into the 2027 Budget for effective implementation of the bank's operations, ensuring women benefit and their limited access to finance is addressed. Mrs. Akakpo encouraged leveraging existing women-friendly financial systems, such as village savings and loans associations, rather than imposing rigid banking models. She also called for transparency and disaggregated data in the disbursement of funds.
On other budgetary issues, Mrs. Akakpo noted that while the government positions agriculture as a central driver of economic transformation, there are no specific targets, indicators, or data to track progress for women, youth, and marginalized groups. She warned that this could reinforce existing inequalities, as women, who make up over half of Ghana's agricultural labor force, continue to face systemic barriers to land, finance, inputs, extension services, and decision-making.
She recommended that 40 to 50 percent of agricultural programs be allocated to women, in line with the Affirmative Action Act, along with providing sex-disaggregated data to ensure accountability. The NETRIGHT Head also called for deliberate linkage of state programs, such as the School Feeding Programme and the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO), to women producer cooperatives to address market accessibility challenges for women farmers.
Beyond agriculture, Mrs. Akakpo expressed concern about the care economy, which is often treated as a private welfare responsibility rather than a public good and economic infrastructure. She urged the development of a national care policy with a costed implementation framework, chaired by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, to coordinate childcare, elder care, disability services, and social protection.