Women Entrepreneurs in Ghana Complain About High Interest Rates

May 20, 2025

(3 Minutes Read)

The Bank of Ghana raised its benchmark monetary policy rate by 100 basis points to 28 per cent on March 28, 2025, after three consecutive meetings with no changes. The decision was driven by concerns about the inflation outlook with the nation’s annual consumer inflation.

Women engaged in Small-Scale businesses in Sunyani, the Bono Regional capital, called for the government’s intervention to reduce the high interest rates for them to access credit facilities to expand their activities.

Speaking at an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani on the implementation of the Post COVID-19 Skills Development and Productivity Enhancement Project (PSDPEP), women traders described the 28 per cent interest rate as high. The high interest rates make it difficult for many of them to access loans, although they need them to open their economic activities.

The GNA is a beneficiary and implementer of the government’s PSDPEP project seeks to build health-related skills in higher education, restore livelihoods, strengthen communication and create jobs among the youth and women in the country.

Under the implementation of the African Development Bank (AfDB) USD 30 million project, USD 4 million is expected to be given to Small and Medium Enterprises as loans at a reduced rate to enable them to withstand the shock of the pandemic.

However, the women traders said they were unaware of the facility, and expressed worry about the difficulties some of them often went through in accessing loans from major banks due to lengthy paperwork.