The Member of Parliament for Ayawaso East, Ambassador Baba Jamal Mohammed Ahmed, has empowered 400 women in the constituency with soft loans to start and expand their small businesses.
The intervention, which targets market women, traders, and young female entrepreneurs, is part of a broader constituency initiative to promote economic independence and improve household livelihoods.
Speaking at the unveiling of his new constituency office, the MP said empowering women economically remains one of his top priorities, given their central role in family and community development.
“Four hundred people with loans to work. Four hundred women. That’s what we have done. So I want everybody to understand,” Ambassador Baba Jamal told constituents at the ceremony.
According to him, the loan scheme is designed to address one of the biggest challenges facing women in the area – lack of access to startup capital.
He explained that the funds will enable beneficiaries to go into trading, food vending, small-scale farming, dressmaking, hairdressing and other income-generating activities that sustain families in the Ayawaso East Municipality.
“Our women are hardworking, but many of them lack the capital to start something meaningful. This support is to give them that push. When a woman is empowered, the whole household and community benefits,” he said.
Ambassador Baba Jamal urged the beneficiaries to apply the funds judiciously and honour repayment plans to ensure the sustainability of the programme.
He noted that repayment would allow the scheme to be rolled over to cover more women in subsequent phases, creating a revolving support system for the constituency.
The MP, who is also a former Deputy Minister and Ghana’s former High Commissioner to South Africa, reiterated his commitment to grassroots development, adding that more social intervention programmes focused on youth employment, education, and skills training would be rolled out in the coming months.
Some beneficiaries who spoke at the event described the intervention as timely, saying rising cost of living and limited access to credit have made it difficult for small businesses to survive.
They commended the MP for fulfilling a campaign promise and called on other well-meaning individuals and organisations to emulate the gesture to reduce poverty at the grassroots.
The unveiling of the constituency office and the loan announcement brought together party executives, traditional leaders, women’s groups, and scores of constituents who lauded the initiative as a step toward inclusive development in Ayawaso East.
By Prosper Kwaku Selassy Agbitor
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