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Claim: Several social media users shared an image claiming to show a newly established Takoradi branch of the Ghanaian government’s anticipated Women’s Development Bank.
Verdict: FALSE. The image is AI-generated. Available public records indicate that the Women’s Development Bank project remains in a preparatory phase, including the issuance of a license by the Bank of Ghana.
Full Text
The Women’s Development Bank was one of the flagship campaign pledges of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) during the 2024 General elections, aimed at providing financial support to women-owned and women-led businesses.
On June 24, 2026, the Ministry of Finance announced that it had applied to the Bank of Ghana for a licence to facilitate its establishment.
The Deputy Finance Minister, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, announced this update in parliament while responding to questions on the current status of the proposed bank.
A day after the announcement, an image circulating online claimed to show a newly established Takoradi branch of the proposed bank.
The image depicted a completed building decorated with balloons, suggesting that the branch has already been officially launched and is operational.
An X user, Long Lyf @LongLyf2, shared the image with the caption, “The NPP guys said our Vice President is only sharing sanitary pads…meanwhile.”
The post (archived here) has over 46,400 Views, 610 likes and 70 comments as of June 28, 2026.
The image from X found its way to other social media platforms, including TikTok, where it was used for video commentary here and here. On Facebook, the image surfaced here and here.
An X user, Gladstone Dotsey, reacting to the image, said, “At least she knows such an act will alleviate the burden of not having the available resources to get some for themselves”.
Another user, Victoria Abdulai, also said, “This is beautiful”.
The image of the bank contained in its building signage had a misspelling of “Women’s.”
Additionally, users who circulated the image did not provide any details about the purported building’s location.
These inconsistencies and missing details raised red flags, prompting DUBAWA to conduct a fact-check.
Verification
Using keyword search, DUBAWA discovered that the Deputy Finance Minister, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, revealed on June 24, 2026, that WDB GH Ltd was incorporated on Jan. 26, 2026, as part of preparatory steps for the project. Circulation of the purported Takoradi branch of the Women’s Development Bank began before incorporation of the bank as required under the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992).
The deputy minister emphasised that a licence from the Bank of Ghana will pave the way for the creation of the dedicated bank. Under the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930), banking institutions cannot commence operations without completing the required licensing and approval process by the Bank of Ghana.
These significant regulatory frameworks cannot be bypassed to open bank branches.
Further checks on all registered institutions under the Bank of Ghana did not yield any information about the Women’s Development Bank or a registered branch.
DUBAWA also found no publication of the purported Takoradi branch image on official government channels, including the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana, or other credible institutional sources.
A reverse image search using Google Lens revealed several similar matches across the web. However, the image has not appeared on any credible news outlets or any government official platforms.
DUBAWA further conducted AI forensic analysis, which confirmed a synthetic origin.
We subjected the image to AI-detection analysis using Hive AI, a recognised tool for identifying synthetic media. The results showed that the image is 90.9% likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content.
Result of the digital forensic analysis on the letter. Source: Hive AI
Similarly, ZeroGPT and Deep AI flagged the image as likely AI-generated and 62% fake.
Result of the digital forensic analysis on the letter. Source: ZeroGPT
Conclusion
The image claiming to show a newly established Takoradi branch of the Ghana government’s anticipated Women’s Development Bank is fake and AI-generated. Official sources indicate that the project is in its preparatory stage, and its final status has not been determined by the relevant regulatory authorities.
This report was produced under the 2026 Kwame Karikari Fact-checking and OSINT Fellowship, co-hosted by DUBAWA and the Digital Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Information Disorder Analysis Centre (DAIDAC), with support from the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).
