Wednesday 30 August 2023

Can Ghana's incapacitated female soccer stars be empowered to become financially secure?

Can Ghana's incapacitated female soccer stars be empowered to become financially secure, when they are forced by circumstances, to leave the game they so passionately love? Perhaps - if a male-dominated society decides to be fairer to women, that is.

The story of how the sad plight of one of the best goalkeepers ever to play for our senior female national soccer team, the  Black Queens, Memunatu Sulemana, caught the attention of former President John Dramani Mahama, who then immediately arranged for suitable alternative accommodation for her, with a promise to empower her to bootstrap her way to financial independence, was widely reported recently, by local media, and went viral on social media platforms.

That sad story, highlights the importance of exploring creative ways of empowering Ghana's female soccer players, who make up our various national soccer teams, who become incapacitated, to bootstrap their way to financial indepedence, through social impact cooperative businesses, established for that purpose.

As we are all aware,  compared to our national  male national soccer teams' players, the  female players at that level, are neglected, in terms of the provision of financial-inducement-compensation packages, even though their track record of winning trophies on the global tournament
stage,  is just as impressive, if not much better, than that of our  male national soccer  teams.

In light of that, perhaps the question a wise and aspirational people ought to ponder over is: How best can Ghana's incapacitated female soccer stars be empowered to become financially secure?

As one's widow's mite contribution to that desired-endgame-outcome, so to speak, here is a simple  idea that might be leveraged to help incapacitated female soccer players to become financially independent after leaving the game, and keep their dignity intact, in retirement:

A logistics sector entity, with an all-female workforce, with at least four flatbed trucks, and four forklifts capable of lifting loaded 40ft shipping containers, which will be a social impact cooperative, set up for, and owned and run, by both active and retired female soccer players, could compete favourably for business across Ghana, could it not, dear critical-reader, and thrive commercially, in a nation unfair to its female soccer players, but ready and happy to assuage its feelings of guilt for being so discriminatory, that way? Yes, Ghana's incapacitated female soccer stars, can, and ought to be suitably empowered, to become financially secure.

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