A digital innovation initiative focused on women-led micro and small businesses has showcased practical, user-driven solutions aimed at addressing real challenges in Ghana’s informal sector.
The GIZ-backed project, implemented with a strong emphasis on user-centred design, brought together young innovators to develop tools tailored to the needs of women entrepreneurs across the country
Project Lead at GFA Consulting Group, implementing partners, Winifred Kotin explained why the initiative was designed to be highly practical from the outset.
According to her, the team observed that digital innovators often fail to engage end-users before developing solutions. As a result, she said, organisers deliberately avoided “wasting resources and time” on products that may not meet real needs.
This informed their approach over the past nine months, during which they scouted young innovators and innovation hubs across the country—specifically from Northeast, Upper West, Upper East, Northern Regions, Ashanti and Eastern—to develop tools tailored to users.
The project began with 32 participants, and the process yielded about 12 strong groups presenting digital technologies aimed at addressing challenges in the informal sector, especially for women. Ms. Kotin noted that after a rigorous screening process, six groups advanced to the final showcase held on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at ISSER, University of Ghana, Legon.
The finalists included EazyBooks, a bookkeeping solution enabling women to record sales on their phones using local languages; SheSusu, a digital susu platform seeking to partner with banks to invest depositors’ funds and generate dividends; A.S. Millenia, a platform connecting farmers to inputs; FraudShield, a payments verification start-up; Manbora, a platform connecting buyers to producers of agricultural inputs; and Agricoms Assurance, an agricultural insurance and fintech startup focused on smallholder farmers.
Ms. Kotin said the project targeted women-led SMEs because of their potential to drive broader national impact through digital technology.
“The project is centred on women because the owners of it which is GIZ wanted us to target women because in Ghana the SME space or the informal entrepreneurial space is dominated by women,” she said.
“We have a lot of small businesses owned by women, and we believe that if we enable them grow and expand through digital technology it will be of a greater impact to the nation,” she added.
The project, she further explained, adopted a user-centred design approach, studying women’s needs and challenges to develop practical, tailored innovations.
“The major benefit and impact this project had has to do with the approach to innovation. We did it by using the user-centred design approach where our primary target, being the women, were studied, business lifestyles understood, constraints were ensured to be added… we looked at some of their pain points including emotional, psychological, physical, and financial challenges and we included them in the design approach.”
Ms. Kotin expressed satisfaction that the incubation and co-creation process had been successfully completed.
The Head of Projects of GIZ, David Robert also expressed excitement about the initiative, stating that its goal is to strengthen digital transformation in Ghana particularly for informal entrepreneurs in the peri-urban areas.
He added that GIZ aims to bring together innovation hubs, start-ups, and ecosystem partners to promote user-centred solutions that support women-led microenterprises while inspiring new innovations.
On sustainability, Mr. Robert noted that GIZ has operated in Ghana for the past 15 years, delivering various projects focused on empowerment and long-term development, and encouraged Ghanaians to stay alert for future opportunities to participate.
At the end of the competition, Agricoms Assurance emerged as the overall winner with its agriculture-focused digital solution designed to provide farmers with timely support to prevent drought and manage climate-related risks using digital technology.
