This project targets a group of small business owning women with low incomes. It offers the opportunity of gaining a sustainable source of income by providing participants with low-interest loans that are unattainable through the banks here in Ghana. In addition, the women are provided with basic business training to help them make the most of their loans. This project supports the economic participation of women, promotes gender equality, and improves the economic welfare of women in Ghana.

Women in Ghana lack access to credit from regular financial institutions for many reasons. Banking services can be deliberately hard to understand for people with a low level of education and women with small or no businesses are often seen by banks as too risky to lend to. Without a decent education or business training, many women are left running businesses that don’t reach their potential. As a result, these women can’t make the most of their resources and their incomes suffer greatly.

Our Association runs a program to provide loans and business training to low-income women in a small community outside Accra. The women all run small businesses and have already benefited from their first loans. With credit and business training, these women are now on their way to being able to expand their businesses and support their families far more easily than before.

This project provides women with skills to last a lifetime and supports the economic participation of women, promotes gender equality and improves the economic welfare of women. In addition, when the women have greater earning potential, they are able to secure their families’ futures and pass on their expertise to their children. In this way, the project has a multi-generational impact.