James Lalu, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Persons With Disabilities, revealed that it has collaborate with the Bank of Industry to provide low-interest credit facilities to persons living with disabilities.

He made this available at the launch of the Strengthening Access to Business Education and Inclusion-Woman project in Lagos, on Thursday.

He said, “We are in discussion with the Bank of Industry to offer loans at a low interest rate. We tried it in the last administration and this current administration is seemingly giving us some green light. As soon as we can remove this barrier, we will have credit facilities from N1m to N10m without collateral for persons with disability. This is an opportunity for us to take up this money and invest it meaningfully.

He said that, his workers are willingly to work with the Access Bank to create more solutions for those living with disability.

Lalu said this would improve the livelihood of people living with disabilities, who usually find it difficult to access funding.

“There are certain requirements, like acquiring accessibility certificates, to guarantee that your buildings and your environment are conducive for persons with disabilities. Very soon, the Central Bank of Nigeria will come up with guidelines on accessibility by banks.

“We are waiting for the approval of the President, which we are hoping, by the grace of God, will come out before this weekend. Once it comes out, it will go around stakeholders and we will come up with a regulation enabling us to seal offices not complying,” he added.

Also speaking, Amaechi Okobi, the Chief Brand and Communications Officer for Access Holdings, stated that the banking group was committed to championing inclusion in and around the workplace and throughout the private sector.

He said, “Today, we are proud to launch the SABI Woman project, an initiative of the Girls Education and Skills Partnership project, which seeks to build the employment readiness and confidence of young women with disabilities (ages 18 to 24) to secure jobs or run their micro-businesses.

“Additionally, we aim to inspire adolescent girls with disabilities in senior secondary schools, nurturing their career aspirations through skill development and mentorship opportunities from the amazing Women of Access Women Network.

“This initiative marks a significant stride forward in our unified mission to advance diversity, inclusion, and equitable opportunity for all. Our resolve remains unshakable as we strive to cultivate an environment that welcomes and actively promotes their full participation and engagement.”

Okobi said, the group’s dedication to inclusivity is further underscored by its involvement in numerous impact initiatives aimed at fostering inclusion and catering to the needs of PWDs.

Providing details about the project, an Education Specialist at UNICEF, Babagana Aminu, said, “This particular funding is a grant, not a credit, and it is going to come in phases. It is to the tune of three million euros, and hopefully, it will last about three years with an expected 50,000 beneficiaries. Already, UNICEF has commenced the first part of it, which is in collaboration with other public and private sector partners.”

Also, Jumoke Alagbe, the Sightsavers’ Institutional Funding Senior Adviser, disclosed that the project would empower adolescent girls with disabilities in senior secondary schools (ages 13-18) to widen their career aspirations through skills development and mentorship.

“The other segment of the project targets young women aged 18-24 with business skills and resources,” she explained.

Alagbe stated that the Girls Education and Skills Partnership was a public-private partnership between the United Kingdom government and major global businesses to empower young women with skills and opportunities.

“The programme sets out to address the challenge of the skills deficit amongst adolescent girls, and the pressing need to diversify education financing,” she said.

The SABI-woman project, with its key partners comprising Access Bank, Unilever, Kanawa, Project Enable, and JONAPWD seeks to build the employment readiness and confidence of young women with disabilities (ages 18-24) to secure jobs or run their micro-businesses, working with organisations of persons with disabilities, private sector partners and the Industrial Training Fund.