By Jibril Abdul Mumuni, GNA
Accra, Sept. 14, GNA – The Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) has launched a specialised loan scheme offering credit at a concessional interest rate of five per cent to support entrepreneurs with disabilities and promote financial inclusion.
Dubbed: “The CBG PWD Inclusion Loan Initiative,” the programme is designed to provide accessible financing to persons with disability (PWDs) operating viable micro and small businesses while integrating them into the formal financial system.
The initiative builds on the bank’s earlier intervention under its PWD Financial Inclusion Programme, through which 119 participants were onboarded and supported with funded minimum account opening balances and approved service fee waivers.
Addressing the launch, Dr Naomi Wolali Kwetey, the Managing Director of CBG, said the initiative reflected the bank’s commitment to recognising and supporting economic potential across all segments of society.
“At CBG, we see financial inclusion as a strategic responsibility. A bank that serves the future must recognise potential in every part of society and convert that potential into sustainable economic participation,” she said.
The Managing Director noted that persons with disability were entrepreneurs, employers, producers, professionals and customers whose ambitions were no different from those of other business owners.
However, she said conventional financial products often failed to address the unique barriers they encountered in accessing formal banking and credit services.
“The CBG PWD Inclusion Loan Initiative is our response to that gap. It moves our commitment beyond account opening and financial literacy into responsible access to credit,” she stated.
Dr Kwetey explained that the concessional five per cent annual interest rate offered under the initiative was significantly lower than prevailing lending rates in Ghana’s banking sector.
Current World Bank and Bank of Ghana data shows that average commercial bank lending rates have ranged between 15 and 30 per cent in recent years, depending on macroeconomic conditions and borrower risk profiles.
In June 2026, the average lending rate stood at about 15.6 per cent, down from approximately 27 per cent a year earlier following improvements in inflation and monetary policy conditions.
Dr Wolali Kwetey emphasised that the facilities were loans and not grants, saying the distinction was important in positioning beneficiaries within the formal credit ecosystem and recognising them as capable economic partners.
Under the scheme, beneficiaries will access loans at an annual interest rate of five per cent, significantly below prevailing commercial lending rates, to support business growth and expansion.
A repayment schedule presented at the launch showed that a GHS5,000 loan would attract a total interest payment of GHS136.45 over a 12-month period.
The initiative combined financial literacy, concessional financing and sustained business support within a framework tailored to the realities of micro-enterprises owned by persons with disability, Dr Kwetey said.
She said the approach was founded on “inclusion with discipline”, balancing access to finance with sound appraisal processes, responsible lending practices, transparency and accountability.
The programme also made room for carefully considered exceptions to requirements that could unintentionally exclude viable informal businesses from accessing credit.
“Inclusion without sustainability will not endure, and credit without responsibility will not empower,” she said, adding that the bank remained committed to protecting depositors’ funds while supporting deserving entrepreneurs.
She indicated that the initiative would serve as the foundation for a specialised credit proposition targeted at entrepreneurs with disability, which could be expanded nationwide through partnerships with relevant organisations.
The bank would measure the programme’s success through business growth, quality customer relationships, responsible repayment and the confidence beneficiaries gained in dealing with the formal financial sector.
The Managing Director encouraged beneficiaries to take advantage of the opportunity and demonstrate the potential of disability-owned enterprises.
“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 noted.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Jibril Abdul Mumuni
Email: [email protected]