With two old rivals facing off in Ghana’s presidential election on Dec. 7 amid familiar economic woes, many voters are paying more attention to a new element in the political mix - the first ever female vice-presidential candidate for a major party.

West Africa’s second-largest economy has one of the highest levels of women-owned businesses in the world, yet just 13% of parliamentary seats are held by women.

Former education minister Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman hopes that the decision of Ghana’s main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to nominate her as its candidate for vice-president will inspire other women to enter politics.

“Many are those who are now more energised to vote, thanks to the momentous decision,” Opoku-Agyeman, 69, said on the campaign trail in July after her nomination, promising to hold the door open for other women.

She and the NDC’s presidential candidate John Mahama, a former president of Ghana, are running against the incumbent, President Nana Akufo-Addo, and Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia, a former banker, of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Some commentators saw her nomination as a politically astute move by the NDC to gain an edge in the race, a view boosted by a poll conducted in October by Ghanaian market research firm MSI-ACI showing over 70% of people canvassed approved of her candidacy.

Source: uk.reuters.com