Founder of the Korklu Foundation, Dorcas Naa Korklu Afotey, says persons with disabilities possess significant entrepreneurial potential and need targeted support to strengthen and expand their businesses.

Speaking on the sidelines of CBG’s Disability Conference at the Du Bois Centre, Cantonments, on Friday, September 11, Ms Afotey said the initiative was particularly significant because it reflected the foundation’s commitment to empowering women, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and children.

She said the foundation was committed to transforming lives and inspiring people, describing the project as one of its most significant initiatives.

“We stand for empowering women and PWDs and children. We also transform lives and we inspire people,” she said.

Ms Afotey said she was particularly pleased that the initiative had finally materialised, having been driven by her conviction that persons with disabilities could achieve more when provided with the right opportunities and support.

According to Ms Afotey, society often underestimates persons with disabilities and views them primarily as recipients of assistance.

She said her experience with the beneficiaries had revealed a different reality, noting that many were already entrepreneurs with established businesses and the determination to improve their livelihoods.

“If we look at our PWDs, society always look down on them,” she said.

She added that the foundation had identified substantial potential among the beneficiaries because they were already engaged in economic activities.

“All the people that came here today, they are all entrepreneurs. They have their work done,” she said.

For Ms Afotey, the challenge was therefore not a lack of ability or ambition, but the absence of adequate support to enable these entrepreneurs to take their businesses to the next level.

Ms Afotey said relatively modest assistance could have a significant impact on businesses owned by persons with disabilities.

“With a little push or a little support, they can do better and move on,” she said.

It was this belief, she explained, that prompted her to approach Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited (CBG) with her vision of supporting PWD entrepreneurs.

She said she engaged the bank and presented her plans for providing practical assistance to the community, with CBG subsequently embracing the initiative.

“I took it upon myself to engage CBG on my vision, what I want to do to support them. And they also bought into the vision and this is where we are today,” she said.

Ms Afotey said the collaboration had created an opportunity to provide beneficiaries with support aimed at improving their existing enterprises.

The focus, she stressed, was on helping entrepreneurs build on what they had already established rather than treating them simply as beneficiaries of charity.

“We are able to support them to improve their businesses,” she said.

The partnership brings together the foundation’s understanding of the needs of persons with disabilities and CBG’s financial inclusion efforts, creating a platform through which PWD entrepreneurs can receive support to strengthen their enterprises.

Ms Afotey said the initiative demonstrated the value of partnerships in turning ideas about empowerment into practical opportunities for people who had traditionally faced barriers to economic participation.

For the Korklu Foundation, she said, the ultimate objective was to help persons with disabilities recognise and develop their potential.