WeRise Network, a Ghanaian organisation, has trained over 5,000 women and young entrepreneurs across 12 regions in the country. The organisation's Chief Executive Officer, Madam Eunice Dewi Adjei, announced this at the WeRise Network's Annual General Meeting in Accra. The programme aimed to help entrepreneurs move from informal businesses to formal, sustainable, and scalable enterprises. Madam Adjei stated that about 70 per cent of the beneficiaries were young women.
WeRise's interventions focus on capacity building, business formalisation, business acceleration, and digital skills development. The training is tailored to the needs and growth stages of individual businesses. In partnership with the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA), WeRise facilitated the formal registration of 3,632 women-owned businesses. This enabled them to access opportunities associated with formalisation, including finance and market expansion.
The organisation's initiatives have yielded significant results. The Yenzi Ghana Mall, an initiative under the BizFox Project, recorded over GH¢1 million in vendor sales last year. This year's sales have exceeded GH¢2.1 million, with over 300 active vendors offering about 2,000 Made-in-Ghana products. The initiative has also created approximately 147 jobs, with each beneficiary earning an average of GH¢1,000 monthly.
WeRise has also implemented the DigiVibe Business Booster programme. This programme provided practical training in digital marketing, e-commerce, and online payments to 209 women-led businesses in Accra and Kumasi. Additionally, 55 vendors from nine regions were trained to accept digital payments through MojoPay. Twenty-two of these vendors have been onboarded onto the MojoPay e-commerce platform.
The organisation has also launched the TechServe initiative. This initiative connects skilled young women and national service graduates to Ghanaian startups. So far, 155 young women have been screened and submitted for placement under TechServe. WeRise aims to place at least 400 young women in decent information and communications technology-related jobs. The organisation also plans to expand digital inclusion and access to financial services and markets.
Madam Juliana Bemah Adubofour, Head of the Women Entrepreneurial Development Directorate of the GEA, commended WeRise for creating a platform for women entrepreneurs to connect, learn, collaborate, and grow. She noted that women-owned businesses contribute significantly to Ghana's entrepreneurial ecosystem but face challenges, including limited access to finance, markets, and business knowledge.
The GEA remains committed to working with WeRise, the Mastercard Foundation, and other stakeholders to create an enabling environment for women-owned businesses to become competitive, sustainable, and growth-oriented enterprises. The growth of these businesses will create jobs, strengthen families and communities, and contribute to national economic development. WeRise's efforts aim to deepen financial literacy programmes and create market opportunities for women-owned businesses.
Key points
- WeRise Network has trained over 5,000 women and young entrepreneurs across Ghana.
- The organisation's initiatives have created jobs and increased access to finance and markets for women-owned businesses.
- WeRise aims to place at least 400 young women in decent information and communications technology-related jobs.
