The two-day summit, scheduled from June 4, this year, would bring together key stakeholders in the entrepreneurial space to, among others, assess the progress of women entrepreneurs within the context of economic empowerment.

It would also foster networking to enhance the overall productivity of women-led industries.

GWES 2018 is on the theme: “Ghanaian Women Entrepreneurs: From Voices to Action”.  It would also provide the platform for discussions on finding innovative ways of accelerating the pace of women entrepreneurs in the country in the interest of job creation, industrialisation and socio-economic growth.

Ms. Kosi Yankey, the Executive Director NBSSI, in her remarks at the launch, said the summit was an exciting initiative that would bring together change-making and innovative women entrepreneurs to engage in powerful and thought-provoking conversations, focusing strongly on challenges hindering growth and profitability.

“This exciting initiative will create a unique platform for women entrepreneurs that are game-makers and innovators to engage in powerful and thought-provoking conversations, focused on the challenges women face while doing business in Ghana,” she said.

She said, although there were many women entrepreneurs in the country, their contribution in the entrepreneurial space was not enough but she was optimistic that the upcoming summit would guide discussions and come up with recommendations to help rectify the situation.

“There is the need to strengthen women entrepreneurs, especially those in the urban and rural areas, to be able to achieve both government’s economic goals and the sustainable development goals (SDG’s).

We have to empower women to take action in the entrepreneurial space to push national development,” she said.   Deputy Trade and Industry Minister, Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, lauded the NBSSI for the initiative and expressed the Government’s strong position on the need to bolster women entrepreneurs as it seeks to make the nation “great and strong”.

He said GWES 2018 was in line with the Government’s agenda of ensuring that all sections of the society were supported to accelerate the pace of economic development. He noted: “Government is targeting support for SMEs, specifically the youth and women to build their business capacity and upgrade their technical capabilities. Economic empowerment for women through GWES 2018 will improve production capacity of women entrepreneurs to push the nation’s growth.”

The Director of Women Entrepreneurship Development Department of NBSSI, Madam Habiba Sumani, said the summit would bring together leaders from government, regulatory bodies, research and academic institutions, and development partners to find effective ways to resolve challenges and systemic constraints that prevented women’s full and equal participation, in the national economy.

“We are also going to use the summit to tap into the entrepreneurial skills and potential of the women entrepreneurs in the country,” she said.  Dr Eugene Owusu, who chaired the launch, said women entrepreneurs had the indomitable will to succeed and that with the right mix of skills they could provide the cornerstone for sustainable and successful businesses.

The summit would include roundtable discussions on topics such as Finance, Technology and Agro-processing—which are identifiable challenges of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)—and map up sustainable interventions and other support mechanisms that will make their businesses more competitive.