A research data to be released as part of international women’s day, by Oxford Africa Women Leadership Institute (OAWLI), an Enterprise Support Organization, indicate, less than 20 percent of women-led businesses in Ghana have ever exported before.
The launch of the data will be at the British Council on March 5 and outdoored by the Swiss Ambassador, Simone Giger.
From the research only 9% (31 out of 386 respondents) have exported so far. 13 out of the 31 had no export certificates, 9 have certificates from the Ghana Export Promotion Authority. Meaning close to 50% of those who had exported before sent their items through family and friends. With an alarming 92% (355 respondents) having no export experience, the research enquired if they were well aware of the required certifications needed to export in the future. Only 20% (71 out of the 355 respondents) were aware. 78% (260 out of the 355 respondents) were not remotely aware of the required certifications with 6% (22 out of 355 respondents) unsure if they knew about the required certificates or not.
Through the data collected, it was proven that the 58% (207 out of 235 respondents) with no export experience were well aware of AFCTA. 39% (139 out of 335 respondents) had no idea about it with roughly 3% (9 out of 395 respondents) being unsure of what AFCTA actually is.
Conclusions are that there was a need to improve upon export readiness for women-led businesses within the SME space. There will be the need for some level of stratification to find clearly who is even export ready what they require to actually export and deliver support from there as part of efforts to deliberately promote export in Ghana to improve upon the balance of payment and the country’s over reliance on oil revenue. Looking at the fact that the SME sector of the economy contribute majorly to economic activities and women forming more than 44% of that population women owned businesses will require the needed support.
Though there are government efforts, it will take the female-led businesses also to personally seek the required information, to be export ready. There will be the need to support with export certification from GEPA, PPRSD, FDA and GSA since more than 90 percent of the respondents had no export certification.
Business Transactions of Respondents’ that went through digital channels
Respondents were asked to indicate the percentage range that their business transactions or sales were facilitated through digital platforms or online channels. 138 respondents each had between 0 to 30% of their business transactions through digital channels, 138 respondents had 40% to 70% of their business transactions through digital channels and 102.
respondents had 70 to 100% of their business transactions through such channels. 8 respondents chose not to respond to this question.
Technology’s Impact on Respondents’ Business Reach
27 gave no response to this enquiry, 152 respondents reported a 40 to 70% increase of business reach due to the impact of technology, 137 respondents reported a 0 to 30% increase of business reach and 70 respondents reported a 70 to 100% increase of business reach due to the impact of technology
Respondent Usage of Digital Marketing
The respondents were asked to indicate how often they used digital marketing for their business operations to enable the researchers understand their use of technology for optimizing business efficiency. 225 out of the 386 respondents used digital marketing frequently, 144 respondents used digital marketing rarely and 13 respondents have never used digital marketing. 8 respondents chose not to answer
Women-led businesses prefer Instagram as digital media channel
The respondents’ preferred digital channels for online marketing, we also solicited to understand the most preferred social media platform among respondents. Instagram emerged the most used by 166 out of the 386 respondents, 152 respondents out of 386 respondents used Facebook, 33 respondents declined to respond, 24 respondents used Tiktok, 8 used LinkedIn, 2 used Twitter and 1 respondent used Snapchat.
Research method
This study used quantitative sampling technique to provide a full understanding of the topic. Our cornerstone is the collecting of quantitative data, which offers a solid platform on which to construct understanding. Key quantitative information, ranging from financial limits and market access limitations to demographics and business performance, is revealed through a representative survey given to a varied sample of women business owners from the Sheconomy Africa project. The research was conducted using questionnaires. After gathering both quantitative and qualitative data, the actual process of comprehending starts where statistical tools have been utilized to examine the survey results and identify any patterns, correlations, and noteworthy group differences.
Conclusions on technology and recommendations
Women-led businesses need a lot of technological support for their business processes but have well understood the need for digital media for marketing. By deduction any business targeting women owned businesses should be looking at Instagram as the best digital media channel.