Grace Dzeble, Head of Marketing at the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), has highlighted challenges within Ghana’s traditional financing system, identifying high interest rates and limited access to affordable credit as major obstacles to the growth of businesses owned by women and young traders.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, October 28, she said that although commercial banks had funds available for lending, the high cost of borrowing continued to prevent many women and young entrepreneurs from securing financing on terms favourable to sustainable business growth.
She emphasised the need for Ghana to invest in traders, particularly women, to maximise the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and enable local businesses to compete effectively across the continent. Ms Dzeble noted that women account for more than 40 per cent of the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, making access to affordable financing essential for expanding their businesses and reaching larger markets.
She explained that the availability of funds did not necessarily guarantee access to credit, as traders with sufficient stock and viable business prospects often struggled to obtain loans because of prohibitive interest rates. “We cannot depend on the commercial banks because there’s availability. But accessibility is a problem. The banks have the money, but they are not able to access. Like Doris just said, you may have the stocks, you may have all that. But the interest rate is the issue,” she said.
Ms Dzeble urged Development Bank Ghana to ensure that its participating financial institutions (PFIs) channel loans through its development-financing programmes instead of relying on their conventional commercial lending products.
According to her, development financing provides more flexible repayment arrangements and longer periods for repayment, allowing women and young entrepreneurs to expand their businesses and repay loans without undue financial pressure. She cautioned that unless affordable financing becomes more accessible, women traders could find it difficult to scale up their operations and take full advantage of emerging opportunities in regional markets.
