ENTREPRENEURS with disabilities in Dar es Salaam on Monday came up in arms against obstacles they encounter in securing loans from financial institutions and other sources.
They were speaking during the opening of a five day training organized by Women's Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality (WEDGE), aimed at building their entrepreneurial capacity amongst them.
They have also established a Savings and Credit Co-Operative Society in 2007 known as Walemavu SACCOS, to give them access to financial services and curb impediments they face.
The Walemavu SACCOS Chairman, Mr David Nyendo, said that many financial institutions in the country were not ready to give them loans, as they do to other people fearing that they would default or not remit payments on time.
"When a disabled person walks in a bank to seek for a loan, the attitude of bankers is not always generally genial because they think they would not be able to pay.
"This is unfair and people with disabilities should be considerate and treated equally," said Mr Nyendo.
He added that they have yet to access the empowerment funds released by President Jakaya Kikwete, commonly known as "Mabilioni ya JK" and that their efforts to get the funds have proved futile.
Mr Nyendo further said that under ordinary circumstances, persons with disabilities ought to receive preferential treatment because they have to endure more obstacles in order to live comfortably.
Ms Asha Salum, another disabled entrepreneur, said that the society should not look down on them, as they too deserve all that other able bodied persons get as human beings.
Ms Salum said that conditions for employment and loan applications from various financial institutions should be reviewed, because the current ones were complicated and are not friendly to them.
In her remarks, the International Labour Organization (ILO) National Programme Co-ordinator, Ms Gloria Kavishe, said that lack of entrepreneurship skills was a major hindrance to disabled people.
She said that most of them lack understanding on procedures necessary to be met before acquiring loans, record keeping and strategic business plans.
According to "participatory needs assessmen" they had conducted, Ms Kavishe said among other things, entrepreneurship skills and illiteracy were found to be challenges mostly facing disabled entrepreneurs, which for many years has led to inefficiency and poor productivity.
The five day training which started on Monday brought together 40 disabled entrepreneurs, aimed at endowing the participants with entrepreneurship and business managerial skills, which in turn would ensure high efficiency in their business.
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