The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), in partnership with the Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ ) Trade Hub, is set to host the GNCCI Women’s Conference 2023 in Accra.
The conference is aimed at educating women-led/women-owned businesses on the protocols and implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement and also to discuss the challenges that greet women who are in the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector within the context of the agreement. It will be held under the theme: “Making AfCFTA work through a deliberate inclusion of women”.
It is also to highlight and explore the opportunities presented by AfCFTA for women entrepreneurs, interact with women entrepreneurs to understand their challenges and preparedness for trading under the agreement, and present policy recommendations for Ghana’s contribution to AfCFTA Protocols on women and youth.
According to Grace Akosua Dzeble, Head Of Marketing at(GNCCI, the overarching aim of the conference is to address the challenges women entrepreneurs encounter.
Per the African Union’s Report on ‘Unlocking the Potential of African Women to Grow their Enterprises,’ the persistent challenges women face in business are due to various factors, including unequal access to education, production resources, and trade facilities.
Madam Grace also highlighted that, according to the World Bank report, women play a significant role in contributing to this sector. In addition, they constitute about 44 percent of the micro small, and medium enterprises sector in Ghana, despite facing various challenges.
Also, baseline research conducted by CUTS International in 2022 reiterated that women were the most uninformed about the details and benefits of the AfCFTA.
The CUTS study emphasized the implementation of several national programmes spanning the last three years to prepare Ghanaian businesses to take advantage of AfCFTA.
