The United States Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia E. Palmer, has urged Ghanaian women entrepreneurs to take advantage of available opportunities by the US government to grow their businesses.
She emphasised the pivotal role women entrepreneurs play in reviving Ghana’s economy, reiterating the U.S. government’s commitment to continuously support women entrepreneurs in Ghana.
Speaking on the sidelines of the graduation of Cohort 6 at the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), a programme under the U.S. Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, on November 15, Ambassador Palmer highlighted the importance of women entrepreneurs as pillars of the country’s economic growth.
“Small and Medium Enterprises are the engine for growth of an economy and that is true for Ghana and it’s true for the United States. It’s interesting for me coming to Ghana to see the sort of side hustle where everybody has some entrepreneurial spirit and I so respect that about Ghana. This programme is fantastic because it started doing start-ups. We tried to reach all the regions of Ghana, so they do a lot of virtual class work, and they work on things like; how to do a business plan, price your products, pitch your business and your products, and confidence building.
“So it’s kind of from soup to nuts. There are alumni from previous programmes; Auntie Bridget former presidential candidate who has been a facilitator to help women with confidence and presentation skills and alumni from lots of U.S. programmes who acted as facilitators which has been very useful to the women. Once they graduate, they are part of a network of those alumni who can help each other.
“I quote Magdaleine Albright, my former boss and Former Secretary of State who said there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help women,” she stated
The graduates consist of 75 women entrepreneurs operating in diverse sectors, including food processing, agribusiness, manufacturing, construction, real estate development, and facility management.
Speaking to the media after the event, the Country Lead for the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) Ghana, Mrs Shola Safo-Duodu, expressed the Academy’s determination to train more women with the necessary skills to succeed in their businesses.
“My goodness, I can’t begin to tell you the success stories we have had with women in every cohort. I mean, a woman comes for the programme and resigns from her job so that she can focus on her business, I don’t know what kind of impact this is and they go global with their businesses. Especially for those who win the grants, they improve upon their businesses in terms of the space, branding and marketing.
“In terms of the impact, there is a saying that ’empty barrels make the most noise.’ We have been doing this quietly since 2019. Maybe we need to up it so we can spread the good news. It has been very impactful. In terms of the number of cohorts, as we yield results, the embassy and the American government see that they are making an impact then they can continue to fund it in the coming years”, she stated
