THE INFLUENCE · GLOBAL BUSINESS
Ghana’s central bank has confirmed that it received a licence application for the proposed Women’s Development Bank. For the entrepreneurs it is intended to serve, the next questions concern collateral, total borrowing costs and how repayments will fit the business.
What Ghana has confirmed
At the Ghana Economic Forum in Accra on November 10, Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang said the committee that designed the bank had finished its work and the Ministry of Finance had submitted the licence application. The committee included market traders, women’s business associations, financial professionals and collectors who operate informal savings arrangements known as susu. MyJoyOnline’s reporting from the forum.
The Bank of Ghana had already confirmed receipt of the application in a September media briefing. It said it was conducting due diligence with the ministry and that the proposed bank’s capital was held in escrow pending licensing. On November 6, Ghana’s presidency described a plan to provide capital and guarantees to support women’s businesses. Bank of Ghana media Q&A, question 7 · Ghana presidency statement.
Status as of November 11, 2026. The latest regulatory material reviewed confirms the application and due diligence. WWI could not verify licence issuance, a launch date or a public application for business owners. Borrower eligibility, loan sizes, pricing, fees and deadlines await official product terms.
Why the design matters for very small businesses
Ghana Statistical Service’s 2024 business census shows that women alone managed 59.4% of micro establishments and 5.8% of large establishments. The agency defines size by people engaged in the business, including owners and unpaid workers. These figures describe management within each size group. They do not measure ownership stakes, loan approval rates or whether an individual firm grew. Ghana Statistical Service, Enterprises in Ghana, Table 5.5.
The same census separately counted nearly 694,000 businesses working in open spaces and about 83,000 mobile businesses. Women accounted for 84% of owners in the open-space group and 77.5% of operators in the mobile group. A lender serving these businesses faces a practical question: how can it assess an owner who can show regular sales but lacks the paperwork a conventional lender requests? Ghana Statistical Service, Table 5.7.
WWI analysis: three ways to judge access
- Which records will count? Watch for a written list of acceptable evidence. Sales books, supplier receipts and mobile payment statements can help a lender see how a business operates if its rules accept them. A lender should explain how an owner can correct gaps in the record and whether registration is required at the start.
- What risk does the guarantee cover? If the bank offers a credit guarantee, the terms should identify the lender and explain the borrower’s obligations. A guarantee can cover part of a lender’s loss. A borrower still needs to know the collateral required, the cost of the loan and what happens after a missed payment.
- When does repayment start? A trader who restocks weekly and a food processor who waits for wholesale invoices face different cash cycles. Compare the payment calendar with when money actually arrives. An owner can test the instalment against a slow month and ask for the total cost, including any compulsory charges.
A bank can report how much it lends. To see whom it reaches, look for approval rates by business size and region, the share of first-time borrowers and repayment performance over time. Those figures would help show whether firms previously underserved by lenders can use the credit on workable terms.
What business owners can prepare now
List the cost you want to finance and estimate when it would generate cash. Keep copies of sales records and invoices you already use to run the business. Compare any future offer against the amount the business can repay during a slow period. Check the regulator’s notices and the provider’s published product terms before sharing documents or paying fees. Bank of Ghana register of supervised institutions.
