The First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo has said the participation of women leaders in national development agenda was critical in achieving many successes as a country.

She noted that “women bring fresh perspectives to the table; they excel at developing ideas, inspiring and motivating others, building consensus and engendering collaboration and teamwork”.

“These are critical success factors for organisations and the wider society. When women are not at the table, our nation is worse off for it. As we drive for greater inclusion of women in national development, our country and continent will be the biggest beneficiary”, she said.

Mrs Akufo-Addo said this when she addressed participants at the maiden Executive Women Network (EWN) Annual conference held in Accra.

The Executive Women Network Annual Conference was held on the theme: “Rebranding Ghana to Drive Business Growth: The perspective of women leaders”.

The conference sought to provide the platform for women leaders and young people to contribute to a national agenda and to rebrand and re-position Ghana for business, investment and tourism.

The First Lady commended the organisers for providing the platform for women leaders, and men to share and provide their quota in the efforts of changing Ghana and the world for the better.

She said, to encourage more female participation in the national agenda would be appropriate by creating platforms such as the conference that enabled women to contribute to the national discourse.

She lauded platforms such as those that allowed women to strategise on how society could achieve more inclusiveness of women in politics, business, academia and all sectors of the national economy.

“Excluding women who make up more than 50 per cent of our population is not the way to go, if we want to develop Ghana. We need more female voices engaged in our national discourse and engage them actively in our national development”, she noted.

Mrs Akufo-Addo said she was particularly, impressed that the EWN was deliberating on rebranding Ghana to drive business growth, saying, that surely aligned perfectly with the government’s agenda on economic growth and development of Ghana.

“I am therefore happy that this conference is not solely about what government can do, but what we, collectively as women leaders can do to rebrand Ghana to drive business growth”.

She said rebranding Ghana was a national responsibility that should involve every Ghanaian, by discussing and taking actions at the communities, offices and homes.

“Everyone has a role to play and everyone is an ambassador in this crusade. So let us take the conversation out there and encourage debates that lead to practical actions” she indicated.

Mrs Akufo-Addo also urged the women leaders to become advocates to brand Ghana and contribute time and resources to brand Ghana.