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Twenty women entrepreneurs in the Wa Municipality who are Persons living with Disabilities (PWDs), are receiving business development training to equip them with the needed skills to enhance their businesses.
They would undergo two weeks of regimented training in business development, financial management and social media marketing to enable them to be on top with technological advancement in business operations.
The project would benefit PWD women in dressmaking, weaving, soap making and bakery among others within the Wa Municipality. The initiative by NoniHub, an Information Technology (IT) firm in Wa, dubbed: “Ablepreneurs 2.0” project and implemented by NoniHub in partnership with School of Thoughts Ghana, a Non-governmental Organization. The project launch was on the theme: “Empowering Abilities, Inspiring Innovations, Advancing PWD Entrepreneurs”.
Speaking at the launch in Wa, Mr Salihu Mohammed Awal, the Programmes Manager of NoniHub, said the PWD women entrepreneurs would also receive three-months post-training mentorship and Monitoring and Evaluation to ensure that the initiative had the expected impact on their businesses. “…we see it necessary to have this (training) so that we will empower them to be able to run their businesses just as any other entrepreneurs are able to do it”, he said.
Mr. Abiola Adeniyi, the Finance Officer of NoniHub, said the launch of the “Ablepreneurs” Project marked a significant milestone in their quest to ensure inclusion in their activities. He said it was an opportunity for NoniHub to celebrate possibilities, nurture talents of PWDs and reaffirm its commitment to building a society where every person, regardless of his or her ability status, had equal access to opportunities to thrive and succeed.
“This program is not just about providing support, it is about breaking barriers, challenging stereotypes and creating a level playing field where talents and innovations can flourish. It is about creating an ecosystem where everyone could contribute to the economic and social development of our region”, Mr. Adeniyi said. Mr. Abraham Agoni, the Executive Director of School of Thoughts Ghana, said PWDs faced significant discrimination and human rights challenges with those in businesses not getting opportunities to accelerate their businesses.
He said issues of patriarchy, tradition and religious beliefs also marginalized PWDs, which he said had made it crucial for stakeholders including Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to be more proactive in setting out interventions to support them. Mr. Mohammed Abdul-Moomin, the Upper West Regional Director of the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA), called for well-coordinated multi-stakeholder action and support to PWDs to navigate the challenges they faced to thrive in their businesses.
Some of the PWDs who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) expressed gratitude to NoniHub and its partners for the intervention. They said it would build their resilience against the challenges they faced in their business operations. Stakeholders at the launch were representatives from the Ghana Standards Authority, National Youth Authority, Wa schools for the Deaf and Blind and Ghana Education Service among others.
Source: GNA
