Investing in impact: How Ecobank Ghana is empowering women-led businesses to thrive

Roughly 70 per cent of women-owned SMEs in developing countries are either unserved or underserved by formal financial institutions, a shortfall the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has indicated as one of the largest unmet financing needs in emerging markets (IFC, Closing the Gender Finance Gap Through Blended Finance, 2023). 

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, women own approximately a third of businesses, yet they receive a disproportionately small share of the formal credit available within the financial system. In fact, the IFC estimates the financing gap for women-owned SMEs in the region at over USD 42 billion (IFC, MSME Finance Gap Report, 2017/2025). 

In Ghana, where women own 44  of MSMEs according to the Ghana Statistical Service, this is not a peripheral problem. It is a structural drag on growth. The cost of leaving capital on the table has been well documented. Research from the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that closing gender gaps in Africa’s economies could have added USD 316 billion to regional GDP by 2025 (McKinsey, The Power of Parity: Advancing Women’s Equality in Africa, 2019). Data from the IFC and the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) consistently show that women-owned SMEs repay loans at rates equal to or better than the broader market, often with default profiles below portfolio averages. The belief that women entrepreneurs are riskier borrowers is therefore not supported by the evidence. In fact, the opposite is true. 

This is why, at Ecobank Ghana, financing women is not merely a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative; it is a core strategic priority and a critical lever for advancing the Bank’s vision of contributing to the economic development of the continent.

At the heart of our approach is the Ellevate Programme, our flagship platform for women-led and women-focused businesses. As of the end of 2025, Ellevate had onboarded almost 13,000 customers, with loan and deposit volumes of GHS 4.07 billion (USD 354 million) and GHS 3.78 billion (USD 329 million) respectively. More than 2,350 entrepreneurs have been supported through market access activities, training and capability-building sessions, including modules in Financial Management, Digital Marketing, and Cashflow and Budgeting. These training programmes are held alongside Ellevate Webinars covering everything from business registration to work-life balance. 

In March 2025, we refreshed the programme to broaden its reach. Among the most significant changes was the introduction of collateral-free loans of up to the cedi equivalent of USD 50,000. The IFC has long identified collateral as the single most cited barrier reported by women entrepreneurs seeking formal credit. Removing the collateral requirement has opened the door for market women, traders, small-scale processors, and artisans who previously sat outside the formal system. 

Capital alone, however, is not enough. Pairing it with training, mentorship, and networking is what turns a loan into a livelihood. Nowhere is this clearer than in our agribusiness portfolio, where we have built a GHS 874 million (USD 76 million) loan book, of which GHS 239.2 million (USD 20.8 million), 27%, has gone to women-focused businesses. Across the wider agricultural value chain, more than 8,000 women have been impacted in roles ranging from suppliers and factory workers to founders and managing directors.

Premier Oak Farms, founded by Owusua Agyeman, illustrates what that support looks like on the ground. Before Ecobank’s support in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation’s BRIDGE-in Agriculture programme, she was managing a farm with 100 birds and two permanent staff all while repaying a loan at a 31% interest rate. Within three months of participating in the programme, her flock had grown to 1,500 layers and 100 free-range birds, her permanent team had tripled, she had hired 19 additional casual workers, and her revenue had grown by 60%. Interest rate on her loan also dropped to 5%. “Give me three months, and things will change even more,” Owusua shared. 

The ripple effects are already visible. Bismark Owusu, a cocoa grower at Premier Oak, put it simply: “My salary has nearly doubled. I’ve found freedom and respect here, and I can now support my siblings.” When a woman entrepreneur grows, the people around her grow with her.

The momentum across our women-focused portfolio is building, and just as importantly, the credit quality has held. Non-performing loans within the Ellevate book have consistently tracked below the average for our broader SME portfolio, mirroring what the IFC and African Guarantee Fund have documented across markets. 

The data is now in, and the verdict is clear. The question is no longer whether investing in women makes business sense; it is whether the rest of the sector will move quickly enough to capture the opportunity. For our peer financial institutions, the imperative is clear: women entrepreneurs must move from being viewed as a CSR segment to being recognized and managed as a core driver of sustainable growth. For policymakers and regulators, the priority must be strengthening the enabling environment, from gender-disaggregated reporting to modern collateral registries that recognise the assets women actually hold. For development partners, the work of sharing risk through guarantee facilities and blended finance instruments remains essential to moving capital at scale. For our part, Ecobank Ghana commits to deepening Ellevate, expanding its participation in the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), and most importantly, listening carefully to the entrepreneurs whose ambitions are outpacing the financial system that should be backing them. Ghana has no shortage of women with bankable businesses. Our job is to make sure the banking gets done.