Cynthia Owusu: GCB Bank�s CFO Championing Digital Finance for SMEs

ough a carefully engineered digital finance strategy, Cynthia has repositioned GCB’s SME department as a catalyst for real economic impact. Under her guidance, the bank has launched a powerful digital lending platform specifically tailored for informal and underserved business owners. Known internally as SME Direct, the platform uses a proprietary algorithm to assess risk in real time and disburse loans in under 72 hours—a process that once took several weeks.

SME Digital Lending Revolution

At the heart of Cynthia’s work is a passion for scalability. “Our goal was to create an inclusive digital ecosystem where SMEs no longer need a network or collateral to qualify—they only need a digital footprint,” she explained at a recent Ghana FinTech Forum.

GCB’s portal integrates mobile money data, utility bill payment patterns, and POS records to generate a dynamic credit profile. The system adapts in real time, which means seasonal businesses are no longer penalized for income fluctuations.

Major Achievements

• Over 800 SMEs Funded: Within the first three months of launching SME Direct, GCB disbursed over GHS 150 million to more than 800 businesses nationwide—60% of which were women-led.


• GHS 300 Million Digital Bond: Cynthia led the structuring and issuance of GCB’s first-ever digitally native corporate bond—a pioneering move in Ghana’s capital markets that attracted over 1,200 retail and institutional investors. This was hailed as a major step toward modernizing the debt market in West Africa.


• Rural Inclusion: By partnering with community-based cooperatives and micro-finance agents, GCB onboarded 60,000 micro-entrepreneurs across the Northern, Upper East, and Savannah regions. For many of these customers, this was their first formal banking relationship.

Her Philosophy

Cynthia believes that a CFO’s job is not just about crunching numbers—it’s about creating systems that allow others to thrive. “Digital finance is unlocking Ghana’s latent SME engine,” she said in a statement to analysts this quarter. “When you fund a seamstress in Tamale or a coconut vendor in Cape Coast, you’re funding local GDP growth.”

Looking Forward

Owusu is already planning the next evolution of SME Direct, which will include an embedded insurance product, credit history portability, and interest rebates for businesses that create new jobs.

Her success is proof that when technology meets purpose, even the smallest businesses can make the loudest economic noise. As one entrepreneur put it: “Before this, I was invisible. Now, I’m investable.”