Development Bank Ghana (DBG) has marked International Women’s Day 2025 with an outreach initiative at the Design and Technology Institute (DTI) in Accra, March 10.
This forms part of the Bank’s commitment to promote women’s empowerment and skills development.
As such, the initiative saw DBG’s female staff engaging and mentoring female students in technical and vocational education.
The engagement included interactive sessions where students received coaching, career advice, and inspiration from DBG professionals. The bank sees this initiative as part of a long-term vision to build a pipeline of empowered women entrepreneurs who will lead Ghana’s next generation of businesses.
It also used the occasion to explore opportunities for future sponsorships and partnerships that can further empower women in male-dominated industries.
This aligns with DBG’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agenda focused on women and children and follows the bank’s 2024 sponsorship of 10 female trainees at DTI.
Speaking during the event, Deputy CEO of DBG, Michael Mensah-Baah, highlighted the significance of the initiative, stating that “DBG recognises the critical role of technical and vocational education in shaping Ghana’s future workforce.
“By supporting young women in this space, we are breaking barriers and creating pathways for economic empowerment. This initiative is more than just mentorship; it’s about inspiring the next generation of female leaders in the industry.”
He added that partnering with institutions like DTI, which are breaking the bias in technical and vocational education, aligns with DBG’s mission.
“Almost 50% of DTI’s student population is female, and that is something we are proud to support. This is a space we want to be associated with and collaborate more on,” he said.
“A woman in this institution today could be a future leader of a micro, small or even medium enterprise—and eventually a local corporate. DBG is committed to being part of that journey—from classroom to boardroom—through funding and technical support,” he added expressing optimism about the long-term impact of the initiative.
In an interview he also emphasised the importance of supporting women-led businesses as a core focus of the bank’s impact strategy.
“One of our key impact areas at Development Bank Ghana is how we support women-led businesses to grow and thrive. We believe that to change the discourse of this country, part of our efforts in supporting the private sector must be focused on empowering women-led businesses,” he said.
On her part, President of DTI, Constance Swaniker, highlighted the importance of gender inclusion in technical fields and described the outreach as timely aligning with DTI’s mission of challenging gender stereotypes in male-dominated sectors.
“Creating opportunities for all and accelerating gender equality is key. It is beautiful to see confident women breaking into spaces which hitherto were not accessible. The confidence women bring when they step into these spaces is unmatched. They are often forced to prove themselves, and they rise to the challenge,” she noted.
She also stressed the need to recognise the role of men in achieving gender equality saying “Some of my biggest champions and role models have been men. I believe we must have inclusive conversations that appreciate the contributions of both genders in breaking down barriers”.
This initiative aligns with Ghana’s broader national development agenda to promote Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—particularly SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).
