Women entrepreneurs in Ghana have launched a national chapter of the African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program, becoming the fourth country on the continent to leverage partnerships for impact and growth, the women said.

“I want to congratulate you on the launch of your new chapter,” said U.S. Ambassador Donald Teitelbaum at the launch event in Accra on Dec. 7. “Economic development is a national issue. In today’s world of global competition, no country can afford to marginalize half of its population.”

Ghana’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Hanna Tetteh, officially inaugurated the AWEP chapter, which is the next step in the initiative to empower women’s entrepreneurs across the continent launched by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2010 with 36 African women business leaders.

“It’s my pleasure to launch the AWEP-Ghana chapter because I think it’s important for us to have a credible vehicle to promote women entrepreneurs in Ghana,” said Hon. Hanna Tetteh, Ghana’s Minister of Trade and Industry.

Virtually half of all registered businesses in Ghana are owned by women, which is among the highest proportion across the continent, according to the World Bank. Gender is a factor in business, studies have shown.

Gender matters because women are major players in the private sector – women-owned businesses account for over one-third of all firms in Africa – and represent the majority of businesses in the informal sector, the bank reported.

Action in programs like AWEP is necessary because legal and institutional barriers affect women’s and men’s enterprises differently and gender disparities not only disadvantage women but also reduce the growth potential of sub-Saharan Africa as a whole.

Women business leaders and women managers bring a different perspective on directing companies, USAID Trade Hub Director Vanessa Adams told participants in the launch.

“Women are very creative at solving problems,” Adams said. “Their approach to conflict tends to be a partnership approach. The approach to leadership is not one of command and control – but of mentoring.

“Women approach positions of power through influence rather than trying to impose ideas. These skills are necessary and desirable for businesses around the world.”

The new chapter is online and on Facebook, and is chaired by Comfort Adjahoe-Jennings, who operates her own small business that sells home decor and fashion accessories.

AWEP is important because it directly tackles one major issue that research has identified: the lack of role models for young women entrepreneurs. “Familiarity with someone involved in entrepreneurship is positively correlated with becoming an entrepreneur,” the World Bank reports.

“We want to share our experiences with other up and coming business women,” said Josephine Forson, who manages Tekura, a home décor and fashion accessories company, and is a member of the AWEP-Ghana executive committee. “We also want to incubate women-owned businesses in the various sectors.”

The event included representatives of the AWEP initiative from Zambia and Liberia. Ghana is the fourth country to launch its AWEP chapter, joining Namibia, Seychelles and Zambia. Chapters will be launched soon in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ethiopia.