Ministry to support Coca Cola company to empower women entrepreneurs

Daniel Abenyega Aug - 20 - 2014 , 12:23

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP) has declared its support for the Coca Cola Bottling Company to implement its programme to economically empower five million women entrepreneurs globally by the year 2020.

According to the sector minister, Nana Oye Lithur, the initiative by the company, dubbed 5by20, would help ensure gender equality and women empowerment in the country, hence the ministry’s support.

She was speaking at the launch of the Coca Cola 5by20 initiative held yesterday in Accra.

5by20 initiative

The 5by20 project forms part of the company’s focus on the sustainable development of the communities in which it operates.

Globally, the project, initiated in 2010, has reached 300,000 women producers, suppliers, distributors, retailers, recyclers and artisans in 12 countries.

In Ghana, the project has since 2013 trained over 3,000 women on a pilot basis in Accra, Kumasi and a number of towns in the Northern Region, through basic financial skills and customer service.

Inadequate infrastructure

Nana Lithur observed that inadequate basic infrastructure in the market, limited access to credit facilities and transportation difficulties had been the major factors hindering the progress of women in the informal sector.

That, she said, informed the need to implement unique initiatives to support women economically to accelerate their empowerment.

She commended the Coca Cola Company for its contribution towards the development of the country as far as women were concerned.

The implementation of the programme, she said, would go a long way to transform the lives of women as regards addressing their economic challenges.

Commitment

The Public Affairs and Communications Manager of Coca Cola Company, Mrs Ama Bawuah, said the company had adopted corporate sustainability measures to help change the living conditions of women in the country by helping to remove the barriers that hindered the growth of their businesses.

In addition, she said, it would also help Ghanaian women to put into practice the knowledge learnt from the training to facilitate their businesses.

She said the company would engage more women in the agricultural sector to empower them to accelerate the economic growth and development of the country.

“We believe that women are the centre of the economy and the family,” Mrs Bawuah said, adding that “if we empower a woman, we are empowering the nation”.