The Coordinator of the Women’s Wing at the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Pearl Opoku, has urged the Registrar of Companies to lower the costs associated with registering businesses led by women in the country.

Ms. Opoku stressed that such action would streamline the formalisation process for numerous micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) led by women, enabling them to access the advantages afforded to formal businesses. This includes improved access to credit, a crucial challenge for MSMEs.

Opoku further urged women entrepreneurs to prioritise proper bookkeeping practices to enhance the efficiency and transparency of their operations.

“Let us take advantage and formalise our businesses. I would like to appeal to the Registrar of Companies to reduce the cost of business registration to encourage MSMEs to register, especially those owned by women,” she said.

Addressing journalists at the event, President of GUTA Dr. Joseph Obeng underscored the significance of establishing a dedicated women’s wing within the organisation.

He acknowledged the pivotal role women play in the trading sector and the broader economy, underscoring the importance of transitioning them from the informal sector to a formalised business structure.

Dr. Obeng underscored the importance of granting women-led businesses access to affordable credit and essential resources to bolster their competitiveness both domestically and internationally.

Expressing concern over the challenges encountered by women traders in cross-border transactions, Dr. Obeng advocated training programmes to equip them with the essential skills and information required to compete effectively with counterparts from other African nations.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Enterprises Authority (GEA) has allocated GH₵500,000 to support the Ashanti Region women’s wing of GUTA.

According to the CEO of GEA, Kosi Yankey Aryeh, this funding aims to bolster the activities of the association and enhance its institutional capacity.

Ms. Aryeh highlighted the importance of providing market access to MSMEs, emphasising the role of associations in facilitating job creation and sustainable development.

“We have come up with a new programme under the markets access for sustainable and inclusive development because you cannot develop or build MSMEs when they have nowhere to sell. In view of this, we have decided to support a lot of associations that help us in job creation.

“The funding is to provide institutional strengthening to the associations to put in place the right structures to recruit the right finance support teams to be able to bring the right personnel to support it,” Ms. Aryeh highlighted.

The inauguration of the Ashanti women’s wing of GUTA was done by the Second Lady, Samira Bwumia.