Mahama’s meeting with UN financial inclusion renews focus on women’s access to finance – Joyce Bawah Mogtari

President John Dramani Mahama’s meeting with the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, has highlighted the need to strengthen women’s financial inclusion in Ghana and beyond.

Senior Presidential Advisor and Aide to President Mahama, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, said the engagement on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly brought together two advocates around the need to make financial systems more responsive to women’s needs.

Queen Máxima has championed efforts to expand access to financial services, strengthen institutions and improve the ability of underserved groups to participate in economic activity.

“That is why the meeting between President Mahama and Queen Máxima was so significant. It brought together two strong voices around a shared question: how do we build financial systems that work better for women and, in doing so, unlock their full economic potential?” Mrs Bawah Mogtari wrote in a Facebook post on Friday, October 9.

She cited data showing that 78.3% of Ghanaian women aged 15 and above had a bank or mobile money account in 2024, up from 27.1% in 2011.

However, she noted that account ownership among men stood at 84.4%, while disparities in access to credit remained a concern.

Mrs Bawah Mogtari said Ghana needed to improve access to affordable financing for women-owned businesses, introduce more flexible collateral requirements, expand access to patient capital and deliberately support women-led industries.

She also highlighted the future of the Women’s Bank as an important part of efforts to strengthen women’s access to financial services.

“Financial inclusion must remain central to our efforts to empower women, strengthen households and build sustainable economies,” she said, stressing that women’s economic empowerment should remain a priority in Ghana’s development agenda.