Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has reassured Ghanaians that the government remains firmly committed to establishing the Women’s Development Bank, expressing confidence that the institution will be launched before the end of 2026.

Speaking on The KSM Show on Friday, August 7, 2026, she described the initiative as a key government intervention aimed at expanding access to finance for women who have long been excluded from the traditional banking system.

“We said we’ll do the Women’s Development Bank. We are dead serious about it,” she said, adding, “I’m hoping that before this year ends, we’d have launched it," She said.

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Professor Opoku-Agyemang explained that the proposed bank is intended to bridge the financing gap for women operating at the lower levels of the informal economy, many of whom are unable to meet the collateral and documentation requirements of conventional banks.

She questioned whether existing banking structures truly cater to the women who need financial support the most.

“You go to any bank in this country, and there’s a women’s desk. Why does that exist? Even when you go to the women’s desk, which women normally go there?” she asked.

She pointed to women engaged in small-scale trading, roadside vending and hawking as examples of entrepreneurs who are often left out of the formal financial sector despite their significant contribution to the economy.

“Does it include this lady who went to get somebody’s doughnuts to hawk? Does she go to this bank? Where will this woman get her capital? How about her? She’s also a woman,” she said.

According to Professor Opoku-Agyemang, the Women’s Development Bank is being designed specifically to serve women who remain beyond the reach of existing financial institutions, noting that commercial banks are often constrained by lending requirements that make it difficult to support such customers.

She stressed that the government’s development agenda is centred on improving the lives of people at the bottom of the economic ladder while sustaining opportunities for those who have already made progress.

The Vice President also reiterated that the Mahama administration remains focused on delivering economic recovery, strengthening national security and expanding skills development as part of its broader national transformation agenda.

“You must start with the things that affect everyone, like the economy, like security. These are fundamental. We must all feel safe. We must all get on with our lives. We must all get proper training to be able to contribute to that same economy,” she said.

She added that President John Dramani Mahama remains committed to removing barriers that hinder national development.

“Our boss [President Mahama] is really, really working so hard to ensure that we are removing these obstacles from our paths,” she said.

ANAS/MA

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