Beyond Disability:  How the Wakka Inclusive Njangi is Transforming Lives in Mvila 

By Nadine Mbah 

Twenty-five persons with disabilities and caregivers in Mvila Division, South Region of Cameroon have completed a three-day entrepreneurship and digital inclusion training under the Wakka Inclusive Njangi Project, gaining business, financial literacy, and digital skills aimed at improving their economic resilience. 

A training that challenged long-standing barriers to economic participation and proving that persons with disabilities are not defined by impairments, but by their potentials. 

Turning Skills into Sustainable Businesses 

Some participants arrived with existing vocational skills in areas such as poultry farming, hairdressing, weaving, and small-scale agriculture. Yet for many of them, this was their first introduction to structured business planning. 

Through practical sessions on business plan development, participants learned how to transform ideas and technical skills into viable businesses. Discussions quickly moved beyond profits to broader questions of economic independence, savings, and long-term resilience. 

One topic generated particular interest: access to banking services. 

Participants were eager to understand how they could open and manage bank accounts, especially those who lack birth certificates or national identity cards. The conversation highlighted an important reality; financial inclusion is still a significant challenge for many persons with disabilities. 

This discussion directly reflected one of the core pillars of the Wakka Inclusive Njangi Project: connecting persons with disabilities to both formal and informal social protection systems that strengthen economic security and reduce vulnerability. 

Bridging the Digital Divide 

The second day focused on digital entrepreneurship, digital marketing, artificial intelligence (AI), and storytelling for business growth. Participants captured the significance of the day with statements that left the room silent: 

For many, it was their first personal smartphone. 

“Before, I shared the same phone with my wife. Today, I have my own phone and not just a phone, but an Android phone,” shared 45year old Ébène Delor Asse, participant with a physical disability.  

“Since I was born, I have never used an Android phone.”  

Said 32-year-old Wanga Ericka, a beneficiary with mobility impairment. 

Another Participant, Sergine Ebene, with a mobility impairment summed up the experience with humor and excitement: “My button phone (choronko) is good night, and the new android phone is good morning.” 

Their words served as a powerful reminder that while the world continues to embrace digital technology, many persons with disabilities are still excluded from the tools that increasingly shape economic and social participation. 

The training revealed that 76% of participants had never heard of Artificial Intelligence (AI) before the training. 

Participants learned how to use Facebook and WhatsApp to market products and services, create simple content with AI-powered tools like meta-AI, tell compelling business stories, and document their entrepreneurial journeys through the project’s “Tori Dey Defteres” storytelling approach. 

Where is the AI? Mendo Alain, a beneficiary wondered. 

To support their transition into the digital economy, we distributed  smartphones equipped with accessibility features designed for persons with visual impairments. 

By the end of the day, all 25 participants were actively using Facebook and WhatsApp, platforms they will now use to market products, communicate with customers, and tell their business stories. A simple distribution of smartphones was, in reality, a gateway to opportunity, connection, visibility, and independence. 

Building Financial Resilience Through Bookkeeping 

The final day focused on one of the most critical yet often overlooked components of entrepreneurship: bookkeeping. Participants learned how to track income and expenses, record sales, manage savings, and understand business performance over time. 

Participants were introduced to practical record-keeping techniques that will help them monitor their businesses, make informed financial decisions, and strengthen their participation in inclusive Njangi savings groups. Bookkeeping was presented as a pathway to financial transparency and sustainability. 

Inclusion, Sustainability and Autonomy  

“Business start-up assets will be distributed to all 25 beneficiaries. The long-term plan is that persons with disabilities will be able to stand on their own, to support their needs and support the needs of their families and not be dependent,” said Nain Mirabel Yuh, Program Manager at eBASE.  

The Wakka Inclusive Njangi Project was created in response to a reality faced by many persons with disabilities across Cameroon: limited access to financial services, business opportunities, social protection, and digital technologies. 

Yet throughout the three-day training in Mvila, one message emerged clearly, what has often been missing are accessible systems, enabling opportunities, and spaces where their talents are recognized and supported. 

Through business skills development, digital inclusion, financial literacy, social protection awareness, and community-based savings mechanisms, the Wakka Inclusive Njangi Project is helping to close those gaps. 

As participants return to their communities with business plans, smartphones, bookkeeping skills, and renewed confidence, they carry the tools to build livelihoods, strengthen their families, and redefine what inclusion looks like in practice.