Talk Title: Women's Banking Desks- The saviour to boost access to finance for Women-led small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) in Ghana?

Abstract: As part of an International Finance Corporation (IFC) and World Bank agenda to inculcate sustainable banking principles among "emerging economies," The Bank of Ghana (BOG) launched the "sustainable banking principles" to respond to emerging trending issues, including "socially responsible stewardship." Flowing from the sustainable banking principles is the trend of 'women's desks' among commercial banks in Ghana - a department within the marketing groups of the Banks mandated to cater to the Banking needs of WSMEs. In this paper, I examine the creation of women's desks, which is seen as a tool to close the funding gap facing WSMEs in Ghana.

Through a socio-legal inquiry that draws on feminist political economy and African feminist debate, I triangulate the discussions on women's desks by first looking at the accounts provided by policymakers regarding the advantages of specialized women's banking services for economic "empowerment." Second, considering the banks' regulations governing these desks, I critique the Ghanaian commercial banks' claims that providing women's desks is a component of their corporate social responsibility. Thirdly, I evaluate how well these accounts of economic empowerment and corporate social responsibility align with how WSMEs view the services provided by the desk and how they differ from mainstream banking services. I argue that the women's desks are commendable for implementing programmes like bookkeeping training and business retreats geared at assisting WSMEs to grow. Nevertheless, they do not significantly alter the Banks' credit regulations to make it easier for WSMEs to access credit.