Women Entrepreneurs must use the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) to raise long term capital to expand their businesses, Managing Director of GSE, EkowAfedzie, has said.

He said the Accra bourse offered women entrepreneurs opportunity to raise capital through the main market, the Ghana Alternative Market (GAX) to finance their businesses.

MrAfedzie made the call in Accra yesterday at a programme to mark the International Women’s Day dubbed “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality.”

The programme which formed part of activities to mark the International Women’s Day (IWD) which is on the global theme “Time to break the bias” was on the sub-theme “Gender equality today for sustainable tomorrow.”

It attracted speakers such as AbenaAmoah, Deputy Managing Director of GSE; Rosy Fynn, Country Head, MasterCard Foundation; Senior Country Officer, Ghana Cluster of Countries of International Financial Corporation (IFC), CemileHacibeyoglu; Yawa Hansen-Quao, founder of Leading Ladies’ Network and Executive Director of Emerging Public Leaders.

The others are Regina Honu, Chief Executive Officer of Soronko Academy; Dr Dzifa Dey, The Rheumatology Initiative, Ghana; Constance Swaniker, founder and CEO of DTI and A&A and Antoinette Kwofie, Chief Finance Officer of MTN, who spoke on Gender Equality.

MrAfedzie advised women to invest in shares and bonds to diversify their investment portfolios, saying “Without investment you have no future.”

He said 2021 was the best performing year for the GSE with a return on investment at 43.6 per cent after three years of negative returns.

“Trading on the bond market stood at GH¢208 billion from GH¢5 billion six years ago,” MrAfedzie, said.

The Managing Director of GSE pledged that his outfit would continue to be associated with the programme and also promote gender equality.

Madam Hacibeyoglu in her remarks said the IFC had invested more than $4 billion for the past decades to boost the Ghanaian economy.

She called for deliberate policies to support women businesses and to bridge the gender gap and break the barriers against women such as access to finance and economic opportunities.

The Country Head of Mastercard Foundation, Madam Rosy Fynn, who delivered the keynote address, said the World Economic Forum 2021 report said it would take more than 135 years to bridge the gender gap.

She said economic empowerment was the key to address the barriers facing women and to bridge the gender gap.

Madam Fynn, among other suggestions, called for transparent recruitment process at the workplace, fair payment system at the workplace, promoting women for senior positions at the office and creating a safe environment for women to work at the workplace.

She called for policies and incentives for women businesses to thrive, arguing that women lacked access to capital to finance their business.

Quoting the World Economic Forum, MsFynn said more than one billion women lacked access to finance with the most of the women found in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Deputy Managing Director of GSE, Madam Amoah, said the GSE joined about 110 Stock Exchanges across the world to observe this year’s IWD.

She commended the Global Compact, UNWomen, Sustainable Stock Exchanges, IFC, World Federation of Exchanges and Women in EFTS for supporting the GSE to organise the “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality”.

MadamAmoah commended the women’s groups and associations which joined and supported the programme to make it a success.