Member of Parliament for Klottey-Korle and a member of Ghana’s delegation to the Pan African Parliament, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has called for urgent structural reforms to unlock the full potential of African women in agribusiness, trade, and development
Highlighting land ownership as a persistent barrier at the 2025 Pan-African Women’s Day Commemoration on Thursday, July 31, 2025, Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings noted that although women do much of the work in agriculture, they often cannot own land, and therefore cannot use it as collateral for loans. “Ironically, studies show women are more reliable in loan repayments, yet they face the greatest barriers to accessing credit,” she said.
On cross-border trade, where women comprise about 90% of participants, Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings proposed the introduction of female customs and immigration officers at all border posts to provide both practical support and protection to women traders.
Touching on the issue of reparations, she urged a shift in perspective. “We must view the transatlantic slave trade as a conquest, millions were taken as prisoners of war. Reparations should come in tangible forms such as infrastructure, technology, and energy investments that support African development.”
Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings also put forward two key recommendations for promoting women’s empowerment:
1. Visibility of Women Leaders in the Pan-African Parliament: She proposed creating short video profiles of the diverse and accomplished women in the Pan-African Parliament, showcasing their achievements to inspire young girls across the continent. “If they can see it, they can aspire to it,” she said, stressing the importance of representation in shaping ambition and possibility.
2. Supporting Cooperatives: She cautioned against urging women to abandon traditional cooperative systems, which often function more organically and efficiently than formal structures. Instead, she advocated for financial institutions to redesign their models around these organic, community-based systems that already drive local economies.
She concluded with a call to value women’s unpaid labour across the continent, stressing “we must put a financial value on the unpaid labor of women on the continent in order to make sure that more women are empowered.”
