CBG launches PWD loan initiative to deepen financial inclusion

Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited (CBG) has launched a dedicated loan initiative for persons with disabilities, seeking to move financial inclusion beyond bank-account ownership towards sustainable enterprise development and economic participation.

The CBG PWD Inclusion Loan Initiative was unveiled at the bank’s Disability Conference held at the Du Bois Centre, Cantonments, on Friday, September 11, with senior management and the Korklu Foundation calling for a shift from viewing persons with disabilities as recipients of charity to recognising them as entrepreneurs and economic actors.

Deputy Managing Director of CBG, Sheila Azuntaba, said financial inclusion should connect people to the knowledge, capital and markets required to build sustainable livelihoods.

She said the initiative represented the next stage of CBG’s engagement with PWD entrepreneurs, combining access to finance with financial literacy and responsible business management.

“Opening an account is an important beginning, but inclusion becomes meaningful when that account connects a person to knowledge, finance, markets, and the confidence to build a sustainable livelihood,” she said.

Ms Azuntaba said the beneficiaries had been selected for their enterprise commitment and potential to grow, rather than being defined by their disabilities.

She stressed that financial literacy was central to the programme because capital alone could not guarantee the success of a business.

According to her, sustainable growth required entrepreneurs to combine access to finance with sound decisions, discipline and an understanding of how present financial choices could affect future opportunities.

The programme is being implemented in partnership with the Korklu Foundation, whose Founder, Dorcas Naa Korklu Afotey, said the initiative was intended to empower PWDs to strengthen their businesses, improve their livelihoods and contribute meaningfully to their families and communities.

Ms Afotey said disability should never be a barrier to opportunity and commended CBG for partnering with the foundation to promote genuine financial inclusion and economic empowerment.

She urged beneficiaries to manage the loans responsibly and use the funds to expand their businesses.

The initiative builds on CBG’s earlier PWD Financial Inclusion Programme, under which 119 participants were onboarded. The bank funded the minimum opening balances for the participants and granted approved service-fee waivers to help remove some initial barriers to formal banking.

Managing Director of CBG, Dr Naomi Wolali Kwetey, said the bank was deliberately moving its intervention beyond account opening and financial literacy to responsible access to credit.

She said PWDs were entrepreneurs, employers, producers, professionals and customers whose ambitions were no different from those of other business owners, although conventional financial products could fail to account for some of the barriers they face.

Importantly, the new facilities are loans rather than grants.

Dr Kwetey said that distinction would place beneficiaries within the formal credit system while recognising them as capable economic partners.

CBG has adopted what she described as an approach of “inclusion with discipline”, offering concessionary pricing and carefully considered exceptions to requirements that could unnecessarily exclude viable informal businesses.

The bank, however, intends to retain sound credit appraisal, transparency, responsible lending and accountability.

Dr Kwetey said this balance was necessary because inclusion had to be sustainable, while credit had to be provided responsibly.

The initiative combines financial literacy, concessionary finance and ongoing business support, with CBG intending to develop it further into a specialised credit proposition for PWD entrepreneurs.

The bank also plans to deepen partnerships and extend responsible financing opportunities to PWD-owned businesses across Ghana.

CBG noted that the effectiveness of the programme will be assessed not simply by the number of loans provided, but by the resilience of beneficiaries’ businesses, the quality of their banking relationships, responsible repayment and their confidence in using formal financial services.

Ms Azuntaba said the initiative reflected a broader commitment to dignity, opportunity and lasting economic inclusion, while calling on beneficiaries to reciprocate the bank’s support with responsible management and a commitment to growing their enterprises.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.