The Dream Support Foundation, a youth- and women-led community organisation based in Wa, has held a Women’s Financial Inclusion and Digital Literacy outreach in Dignafuro, a community in Wa Municipality, to strengthen rural women’s access to and use of formal financial services.
The outreach followed the Foundation’s participation in a capacity-building workshop under the Women’s Economic Empowerment–Ghana (WEE-Ghana) project convened by NETRIGHT.
The workshop — which brought together civil society groups, women’s rights organisations, trade unions and academia — prompted the Foundation to translate policy insight into practical support for vulnerable rural women.
Facilitators taught participants how to use Mobile Money safely, manage household and business finances separately, practise consistent saving, spot and avoid digital fraud, and adopt basic cybersecurity habits. The programme also covered business development, cooperative formation and pathways for informal groups to access bank products.
Representatives from MTN Ghana and a local rural bank led sessions on digital financial services and formal banking options. MTN trainers demonstrated Mobile Money operations and fraud prevention; the bank outlined account procedures and credit or savings products tailored to small-scale traders, farmers and savings groups.
Local participants described immediate benefits. Madam Daapoc said the outreach taught her to protect money through safe Mobile Money use and to keep business funds separate from personal finances to improve savings and financial planning. Other attendees praised the role of susu (rotating savings) groups in meeting household needs and said the training strengthened their confidence to seek formal financial services when required. MTN is expected to provide business SIMs to help women manage transactions more effectively.
Ms Felicia Baganiah, Founder and Executive Director of Dream Support Foundation, said economic empowerment of mothers is central to the organisation’s mission. “Access alone is not enough,” she said. “Women need the knowledge, tools and collective structures to use financial services safely and meaningfully.” Baganiah added that strengthening savings groups and cooperatives enhances bargaining power and creates better access to loans and other financial products.
Th Foundation intends to replicate the Women Financial Inclusion and Literacy Outreach to other rural communities in the Upper West region as part of efforts to close gaps in digital literacy, institutional access and decision-making power that limit women’s financial inclusion.
Dream Support Foundation works at the intersection of education, women’s economic empowerment and climate resilience, providing mentorship for girls, financial and digital skills training for women, and climate-smart livelihood initiatives.
The Dignafuro community outreach aims to build trust in formal finance, promote safe savings practices and create sustainable pathways from informal saving to formal financial inclusion
