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The Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana, Pearl Nkrumah, has underscored the importance of enabling platforms, seamless payment systems and strategic partnerships in unlocking women-led trade across Africa. She emphasized this during a high-level panel discussion at the African Prosperity Dialogues (APD) 2026 Day 1.
Speaking during a panel discussion titled “From Boardrooms to Borders: Women Driving the AfCFTA Agenda,” Ms. Nkrumah emphasised that financing alone could not deliver meaningful trade growth unless it was supported by strong structures that enabled market access, payments and collaboration for women entrepreneurs.
According to her, Africa must prioritise platforms that allowed women-owned businesses to move beyond operating as small enterprises to becoming suppliers, exporters and strategic partners within regional and global value chains. She explained that when women were empowered to trade across borders and collaborate with partners outside their home markets, investment flowed naturally back into African economies, boosting growth and job creation.
Ms. Nkrumah noted that Access Bank was actively working with central banks and partner institutions across the continent to simplify cross-border transactions, develop tailored financial products and create marketplaces that support trade under AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area).
She highlighted the bank’s ‘Access Africa’ platform, which enabled customers to send and receive funds across the 14 African countries where the bank operates, as a practical step toward easing intra-African payments.
While acknowledging progress made through initiatives such as the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), she pointed out that settlement challenges remain a key obstacle. She called for deeper policy alignment and sustained dialogue toward the eventual adoption of a single African currency to make trade and payments more fluid across the continent.
The panel also featured Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration at the Office of the President, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, , Patricia Poku-Diaby, Executive Chair of Plot Enterprise and APN Advisory Council member; Noelma Viegas D’Abreu, President of the Executive Committee of Academia BAI; and Prof. Marie-Line Sephocle, Founder of the Women Ambassadors Foundation and the Women Ambassadors Conference, who shared perspectives on women’s leadership and the practical barriers to scaling cross-border trade.
Addressing participants on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama, Vice President Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang called on African countries to break away from low-productivity economic models that relied heavily on the export of raw materials. She stressed that Africa’s growing cooperation must be translated into tangible outcomes through industrialisation, expanded intra-African trade, skills development and sustainable production.
She also highlighted Ghana’s 24-hour economy initiative as a policy intervention aimed at improving productivity by reducing bottlenecks and strengthening coordination among infrastructure, finance and institutions, while aligning national development priorities with broader ECOWAS and African Union objectives.
Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration at the Office of the President, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, described AfCFTA as a tool for social transformation, particularly for women who dominate informal cross-border trade across the continent. She called for deliberate implementation of AfCFTA protocols, including simplified border procedures, digitalised customs systems and improved access to finance for women traders.
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, underscored the role of collaboration between academia, industry and government in equipping young people and women with the digital skills required to participate effectively in Africa’s single market, noting that innovation and visibility are increasingly critical to business success.
APD 2026 DAY 1 concluded with renewed calls for commitments that move beyond dialogue to execution, reinforcing the central message that empowering SMEs, women and youth is key to unlocking Africa’s shared prosperity under AfCFTA.
The three-day dialogue, is being held from February 4 to 6, 2026, under the theme “Empowering SMEs, Women and Youth in Africa’s Single Market: Innovate. Collaborate. Trade.” It would bring together political leaders, policymakers, business executives, academics and development partners to advance actionable solutions for Africa’s economic transformation under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
