Chris Koney column: GEXIM Deputy CEO advocates for more female participation in export value chain

The month of March is here and the world once again is celebrating International Women’s Day. Around the world, it is celebrated annually as a focal point in the women’s rights movement, giving focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.

The campaign theme for International Women’s Day 2024 is Inspire Inclusion. When we inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion, we forge a better world. And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there is a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment. Collectively, let us forge a more inclusive world for women.

To mark this year’s International Women’s Day, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM), responsible for Banking and Business, Rosemary Beryl Archer shared her thoughts on the current state of export trade in Ghana and the main drivers sharing some statistics and facts.

According to her, available data indicates that exports in Ghana are a central part of the Ghanaian economy, whether in goods or services. Exported goods exceeded US$17.2 billion in 2022 and precious stones, agricultural products, minerals, and mineral fuels often form the core of the export category. She further highlighted that Ghana has a lot to explore in its merchandise exports.

Over the years, the export trade in Ghana has primarily been dominated by men and the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM), responsible for Banking and Business urged policy makers and other relevant stakeholders in the Export Value Chain across the African continent to empower more women to actively participate in export enterprises.

She indicated that entrepreneurship activities globally are dominated by men according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Women’s Report at a comparative rate of 52percent by men versus 48percent by women. The variations from region to region or country to country within a single region however is higher. In Latin America and the Caribbean, for example, the overall level of women entrepreneurship is quite high, while it is relatively low in Eastern Europe.

To change the narrative, Ms. Archer called for a calculated attempt and pragmatic approach by African governments, policy drafters and implementers as well as all other relevant stakeholders to develop the technical and financial capacity of women in the export value chain as well as introduce policies to encourage more women to join the sector and make bold steps.

“Female entrepreneurs represent the fastest growing category of entrepreneurship worldwide and can make significant contributions to entrepreneurial activity and economic development in terms of creating new jobs and increasing the gross domestic product (GDP), with positive impacts on reducing poverty and social exclusion. It has become very important to pay attention to women exporters in Ghana, especially, Small and Medium Enterprise exporters as well as supporting indigenous, women-led and export-oriented enterprises,” she stated.

She also highlighted the need to address the numerous challenges encountered by women in their quest to play key roles in the internationalization of Ghanaian goods and services.  She further cited a study by Guzman and Kacperczyk (2019), which emphasised the several challenges women entrepreneurs face, for example female entrepreneurs are 63percent less likely than their male counterparts to obtain external financing in terms of risk capital.

“Women Exporters face various challenges which make it difficult for them to compete favourably on the international marketplace and we are hoping the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) could help resolve them.

Currently, African exporters are the lack of Capacity to be globally competitive, access to funding, inadequate managerial and technical abilities, lack of Human resource, technology, inadequate government support, lack of long term Planning and building a support network,” she added.

Within the Ghanaian SME sector, women hold a huge sway and according to the World Bank, 44percent of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Ghana are owned by women. The Mastercard report in 2020, indicated that Ghana has the highest percentage of women business owners at 46.4%, ranking it first place in the world. The above gives Ms. Archer the conviction that the situation can be changed with the right measure taken by all sector players.

>>>the writer is a thought leader in Marketing Communications, Brand, Talent and Stakeholder Relationship Management Professional and International Cooperation Specialist. Over the last fifteen (15) years, he has made tremendous impact within Africa’s corporate communications and creative arts sectors. He can be reached at [email protected] / 233 20 854 1480.

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