Ghana's last two budgets allocated GH¢452.5 million to a Women's Development Bank. The Finance Ministry says GH¢400 million of that allocation, or 88.4%, has been deposited in an account at the Bank of Ghana.
As of 11 November the licence application was still with the central bank, Graphic reported, and the bank has not started operating.
The question resurfaced on X on Saturday morning, when Joy 99.7 FM reposted the Minority's response to the 2027 Budget under its #Newsfile tag.
What was claimed
At a press conference on Thursday 12 November, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said: "Meanwhile, in the 2025 budget, they said they were going to establish a new women's bank. 2026, they said the same thing. But in 2027, they were quiet.
The minister was silent." MyJoyOnline headlined its report as the Minority alleging "silence in 2027 Budget".
The first half checks out. The 2025 Budget (para 470) said government "will establish" the bank and allocated GH¢51.3 million as seed money (para 391). The 2026 Budget promised "another GH¢401 million" (para 1164).
The second half does not. The printed 2027 Budget Statement says, at para 1137: "Government capitalised the Women's Development Bank with GH¢400.00 million. In 2027, Government will fully operationalise the Bank."
The published text of the Budget Speech does not mention the bank. But Citi Newsroom reported that the minister told Parliament: "I am happy to report that we have successfully capitalised the Women's Development Bank, and the bank will be operational beginning early next year."
Following the money
On X, @atinkatvgh quoted Kojo Oppong Nkrumah as saying: "Over GH¢450 million was allocated to the Women's Development Bank, but there is nothing to show for it. Where is the money?" A post by @OsonoAmmiel listed "GHC 452.3 million - Women's Development Bank" under the heading "THIS GOVERNMENT HAS WASTED".
The allocation figure is right. The budget appendices show GH¢51,268,180 in 2025 and GH¢401,268,180 in 2026, a total of GH¢452.5 million. @OsonoAmmiel's figure is GH¢0.2 million short.
"Wasted" is not supported by the documents. In the Mid-Year Review on 23 July (para 380), the minister said the ministry had deposited GH¢400 million into an account with the Bank of Ghana as initial capital. Graphic, in a report published on 13 July, quoted him saying the money had been paid "into an escrow account at the Bank of Ghana".
We have not seen a Bank of Ghana statement confirming the deposit. The amount matches the GH¢400 million minimum paid-up capital the Bank of Ghana set for banks and new entrants in 2017. The bank was incorporated as WDB GH Ltd on 26 January 2026.
Adding the two budget lines and subtracting the reported deposit leaves GH¢52.5 million. The documents do not show whether that sum was released or spent, or whether the 2026 allocation already included the 2025 seed. What happened to the 2025 seed money is not reported.
Allocations are Budget plans, not recorded releases. The GH¢400 million deposit is the ministry's own account and has not been confirmed by the Bank of Ghana.
Source: Ministry of Finance, 2025 and 2026 Budget Statements, Appendix 4A (GH¢51,268,180 and GH¢401,268,180, shown rounded); 2026 Mid-Year Review Speech para 380; Graphic Online, 13 July 2026 (escrow wording); Bank of Ghana, Notice on New Minimum Paid-Up Capital, 11 September 2017. StatsGH calculations.
The deadline has already slipped
The finish line keeps moving. In July the minister said the bank would "commence full operations before the end of the year".
On 11 November, Vice-President Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang said the licence application was with the Bank of Ghana, Graphic reported. The new target is "early next year".
The 2027 Budget includes no new allocation line for the bank.
On X, @n_friggo's post "Truly; where's the women's development bank?" had 2,819 impressions by Saturday morning.
Joy 99.7 FM also reposted, under the same tag, a report on missing 24-hour economy incentives, which StatsGH has already examined.
Limitations
The GH¢400 million deposit is the ministry's own account. We have not seen a Bank of Ghana statement confirming it. The "escrow" wording comes from Graphic's 13 July report, not from the Mid-Year Speech, which said "an account".
The budgets do not report actual spending of the 2025 seed money, and they do not say whether the 2026 figure was on top of it or included it. The GH¢52.5 million difference is therefore an arithmetic remainder, not evidence that money is missing or was misused.
The licence position is as Graphic reported it on 11 November. The Bank of Ghana has not said when it will decide.
Sources
- Ministry of Finance, 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, 12 Nov 2026, para 1137
- Ministry of Finance, 2027 Budget Speech, 12 Nov 2026
- Ministry of Finance, 2025 Budget Statement, paras 391, 470; Appendix 4A, MDA Expenditure Allocation (GH¢) – 2025
- Ministry of Finance, 2026 Budget Statement, paras 1164, 1192; Appendix 4A, MDA Expenditure Allocation (GH¢) – 2026 [Administration Sector – GOG]
- Ministry of Finance, 2026 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review Speech, 23 Jul 2026, paras 378-381
- Bank of Ghana, Notice on New Minimum Paid-Up Capital, 11 Sep 2017
- MyJoyOnline, "Minority caucus questions women's bank pledge, alleges silence in 2027 Budget", 12 Nov 2026
- Citi Newsroom, "Women's Development Bank to begin operations early 2027 – Ato Forson", 12 Nov 2026
- MyJoyOnline, "Gov't deposits GH¢400 million capital as Women's Development Bank set to begin operations this year", 23 Jul 2026
- Graphic Online, "GH¢400m released for Women's Development Bank capitalisation", 13 Jul 2026 (minister: "escrow account at the Bank of Ghana")
- Graphic Online, "Women's Devt Bank in offing: Banking licence application awaiting approval", 11 Nov 2026
- StatsGH, 2027 Budget omits 24-hour economy incentives
- X posts: @Joy997FM; @atinkatvgh; @OsonoAmmiel; @n_friggo; @Citi973