Stanbic Bank Ghana in partnership with Vodafone Ghana has held a two-day certificate programme for women entrepreneurs at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Accra.
The maiden edition of the “Women in Entrepreneurship” Workshop, which is a follow-up on Stanbic Bank’s Lionesses of Africa programme and the SB Incubator project, hosted 51 women leaders. The business owners were taken through strategic concepts of running and sustaining a successful business by seasoned facilitators from CEIBS.
Speaking on the rationale for the workshop, the Head of Enterprise Banking at Stanbic Bank, Pearl Nkrumah, said the workshop, which is in effect an extension of the Bank’s SB Incubator project, is designed to help start-ups acquire with the right kind of knowledge needed to start, manage and grow a business. “We acknowledge that the challenges that accompany the start of a business can be daunting – to the point of almost having to throw in the towel. That is why we at Stanbic are here to go through them all with you while you ride on our back. Our major-pre-occupation is to see you succeed because Stanbic reckons and emphasizes that advancing women is good for business, good for society and great for Africa’s prospects,” Pearl said.
The role of women in economies in Africa and in Ghana in particular has often been defined and restricted along biological and cultural lines. Historically, women have been disadvantaged when it comes to economic ventures and this has marginalized women and belittled their role in political economies. These notwithstanding, there is evidence that bares testimony to the fact that women have enormous influence and impact in the transformation of economies in both developed and developing countries. From start-ups to small to medium sizes, women play significant roles in the entrepreneurial space. Commenting on Vodafone’s partnership with Stanbic, HVC SME Sales Manager at Vodafone Ghana, Maame Efua Essel, said:
“Vodafone Ghana is committed to growing the SME force of the country since it contributes substantially to the economy. We at Vodafone Ghana are passionate about start-ups. We want to believe that these women entrepreneurs here present will not let such insightful information that they have gathered from here these past two days go to waste.
The workshop has been robust with skill-set relevant for the now and for the future, to help these our women run and stay in their various fields of businesses, which will in turn help build the nation. We will come back with more of such programmes as we continue to find ways to keep providing opportunities for businesses to realize their ambitions for the future,” Maame Efua stated.
