Formal entrepreneurship: an opportunity to seize for people with disabilities
As part of the Project for the Reform and Dissemination of Laws Favorable to Women’s Entrepreneurship (PADMPME), the Congolese Women’s Permanent Consultation Framework (CAFCO) in partnership with UN Women organized an awareness campaign dedicated to people with disabilities. to encourage them to engage in formal entrepreneurship. This event, which was held on July 6, 2023, aimed to raise awareness of the laws and texts that support and encourage this category of people to become entrepreneurs.
Josepha Kongolo, member of CAFCO, said: “People with disabilities often work in the informal sector. As part of the project for the dissemination of laws favorable to women, we wanted to work with these people in order to help them to consider themselves as important players in their current activities and to support them in their formalization as entrepreneurs”.
The president of young people with disabilities at the National Federation of Associations of People with Disabilities (FENAPHA), Mélanie Musau, welcomed this awareness-raising initiative, stressing the importance of formal entrepreneurship for people with disabilities. However, she stressed that the high cost of administrative documents is a major obstacle: “The means at our disposal do not allow us to cover the costs of these documents, which are disproportionate to our income”.
Faced with this problem, CAFCO has announced that it is now possible for people with disabilities carrying out a commercial activity to obtain the register of commerce and personal property credit (RCCM) at a reduced cost of $40, compared to the $300 $ usually requested. This measure aims to facilitate access to formalization and to further encourage people with disabilities to engage in formal entrepreneurship.
This awareness also enabled participants to formulate recommendations, in particular by calling on the government to put in place specific support mechanisms for the entrepreneurship of people with disabilities and to build the capacities of those who are already committed to this path. .
By encouraging formal entrepreneurship among people with disabilities, this initiative contributes to the economic empowerment of this often marginalized population. It is essential to recognize their potential and offer them the necessary tools and support to fully realize their entrepreneurial ambitions