CBG Launches Dedicated Loan Scheme to Empower Persons with Disabilities and Boost Financial Inclusion

Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited (CBG) has launched a dedicated loan initiative for persons with disabilities (PWDs), aimed at expanding their access to finance and enabling them to participate more meaningfully in Ghana’s formal financial system.

The CBG PWD Inclusion Loan Initiative, unveiled at the Bank’s Disability Conference at the Du Bois Centre in Cantonments, represents a shift in the Bank’s approach to financial inclusion—from simply providing access to banking services to creating responsible pathways to credit for viable PWD-owned businesses.

Speaking at the launch, Managing Director of CBG, Dr Naomi Wolali Kwetey, said financial inclusion must go beyond opening bank accounts to creating opportunities for people to convert their potential into sustainable economic participation.

She noted that PWDs are entrepreneurs, employers, producers, professionals and customers whose ambitions are no different from those of other business owners.

However, she acknowledged that conventional financial products can sometimes fail to adequately address the barriers faced by entrepreneurs operating outside the formal financial system.

“The CBG PWD Inclusion Loan Initiative is our response to that gap,” Dr Kwetey said.

According to her, the initiative moves CBG’s commitment beyond account opening and financial literacy to responsible access to credit, while recognising beneficiaries as capable economic partners.

Importantly, the facilities being offered under the programme are loans, not grants.

Dr Kwetey explained that this distinction is deliberate because it places beneficiaries within the formal credit system while promoting financial responsibility and accountability.

She said CBG had adopted an approach of “inclusion with discipline”, combining concessionary pricing with carefully considered exceptions to requirements that could unnecessarily exclude viable informal businesses.

At the same time, the Bank will maintain sound credit appraisal, transparency, responsible lending and accountability.

“This balance matters. Inclusion without sustainability will not endure, and credit without responsibility will not empower,” she said.

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 of the initial barriers to formal banking.

The new initiative brings together financial literacy, concessionary finance and sustained business support, creating a dedicated pathway to credit for PWD entrepreneurs and viable micro-enterprises.

Dr Kwetey said CBG’s ambition extends beyond the initial beneficiaries, with plans to deepen partnerships and expand responsible access to finance for PWD-owned businesses across Ghana.

She said the success of the programme would not be measured simply by the number of loans disbursed, but by the resilience and growth of beneficiaries’ businesses, the quality of their banking relationships, responsible repayment and their confidence in engaging with the formal financial system.

“Our ambition goes beyond the beneficiaries gathered here. We intend to deepen partnerships and expand responsible access to finance for PWD-owned businesses across Ghana,” she said.

The programme is being implemented in partnership with the Korklu Foundation, which has been supporting efforts to promote economic empowerment and inclusion for persons with disabilities.

Founder of the Korklu Foundation, Dorcas Naa Korklu Afotey, urged beneficiaries to use the loans responsibly to strengthen and expand their businesses, improve their livelihoods and contribute to their families and communities.

She stressed that disability should not be a barrier to economic opportunity and commended CBG for adopting a more inclusive approach to financing.

Dr Kwetey also encouraged the beneficiaries to see the initiative as an opportunity to build sustainable enterprises and strengthen their participation in the formal economy.

“To our beneficiaries, CBG sees your potential and respects your enterprise. The opportunity before you is not defined by disability. It is defined by what you can build when ability, finance and commitment come together,” she said.

CBG said the initiative will also lay the foundation for a specialised credit proposition for PWD entrepreneurs as the Bank works to develop accessible, commercially responsible, and sustainable financing solutions.

The Bank’s Managing Director said the initiative was not simply another loan product but part of a broader effort to strengthen CBG’s capacity to serve customers who have historically remained outside formal finance.