2007年-世界发展银行全球_Gender_and_Economic_Growth_Assessment_for_Ghana_2007_109页_2mb

Gender and Economic Growth Assessment for Ghana 2007 Summary

Core Content

This report, titled Gender and Economic Growth Assessment for Ghana 2007, was conducted at the request of the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC) and coordinated by the IFC's Private Enterprise Partnership for Africa under the Gender-Entrepreneurship Markets Initiative. The study aimed to evaluate the role of gender in economic growth, focusing on the legal, institutional, and administrative barriers that hinder the growth of women-owned businesses in Ghana.

Main Tasks

• Baseline Data Collection: On legal, institutional, and administrative barriers affecting women's economic participation.
• Enterprise Survey: Of women-owned firms to identify constraints to business operations and growth.
• Focus Group Discussions: With female entrepreneurs and key stakeholders to gather insights and perspectives.

Key Findings

Economic Participation

• Most economically active women in Ghana operate in the informal sector, mainly in micro-enterprises and retail trade.
• Women dominate food crop production in agriculture, while men are more involved in cash crop farming.
• Women contribute significantly to non-farm enterprises and account for about 32% of formal industrial sector employment.
• Despite high participation, women are underrepresented in the formal sector, which is dominated by men (nearly 70%).

Education and Gender Parity

• Primary and secondary education gender parity indices have improved, but the tertiary index remains low at 45 females per 100 males.
• There is a need to encourage women to pursue higher education and acquire skills for higher economic roles.

Legal Framework

• The legal framework for property rights and business formation does not explicitly inhibit women's economic participation.
• Customary norms, however, often limit women's access to land and property, which is a major barrier to their entrepreneurship.

Access to Finance

• Lack of finance is a critical constraint for women entrepreneurs.
• Women often lack access to formal credit due to insufficient collateral and complex procedures.
• Special government credit facilities, such as the Women's Development Fund, have high repayment rates and should be scaled up.
• Financial institutions are setting up SME desks to assist women, but more support from government agencies is needed.

Institutional Support

• Business registration and entry processes are cumbersome and require significant time and effort.
• Women are more vulnerable to bureaucratic challenges due to greater family responsibilities and less sophisticated networks.
• The National Board for Small-Scale Industries (NBSSI) has a national network but has been inactive due to funding issues.

Gender Mainstreaming

• Despite progress in gender mainstreaming, implementation gaps and poor coordination persist.
• There is a need for more comprehensive data to measure the impact of policies on women-owned businesses.
• The report emphasizes the importance of increasing women's participation in policy and decision-making processes, aligning with the Beijing Platform for Action's 30% quota for women in elected office.

Key Recommendations

Conclusion

The report highlights the need for a more holistic approach to addressing gender-related barriers to economic growth in Ghana. It calls for enhanced legal literacy, improved access to finance, streamlined business registration processes, and stronger institutional support to unlock the potential of women entrepreneurs. The recommendations emphasize the importance of policy integration, better coordination, and increased women's participation in decision-making processes to ensure sustainable economic development and growth.