Telecel Ghana Trains 97 Deaf Entrepreneurs in Digital Finance and Mobile Commerce in Accra

Ninety-seven Deaf and hard-of-hearing traders and artisans in Accra have gained new tools to compete in Ghana's fast-moving digital economy, following a targeted training programme organised by Telecel Ghana at the national headquarters of the Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD).

The workshop brought together entrepreneurs drawn from across the Deaf community, exposing them to sustainable business management principles, personal finance education, and hands-on onboarding onto Telecel Cash -- the telecom operator's mobile financial services platform. By the end of the session, participants had been registered as merchants and equipped to accept digital payments and manage their business transactions electronically.

Bridging the Digital Divide for Deaf Business Owners

For many of the participants, the barriers to digital financial services have been steep -- not because of a lack of ambition, but because mainstream systems rarely account for the realities of Deaf entrepreneurship. The Telecel Ghana initiative aimed directly at that gap, combining classroom instruction with practical setup, including the provision of free merchant SIM cards and the activation of business accounts on the spot.

Owusuaa, a trader in baby diapers and groceries who attended the workshop, captured the sentiment of many in the room. She expressed appreciation for the structured guidance through five core business growth principles and noted that setting up merchant accounts independently would have posed a major hurdle, given the many constraints Deaf business owners already navigate on a daily basis.

"We believe our tailored accessibility support for Deaf entrepreneurs will translate into their stronger participation in Ghana's digital economy." -- Mercy Dawn Akude, General Manager of Commercial Operations, Telecel Ghana

David Mborkor, Greater Accra Regional President of GNAD, used the occasion to urge participants to treat the training as more than a one-day event -- encouraging them to apply the lessons in growing their businesses and strengthening their financial standing. He also recognised Telecel Ghana's continued investment in programmes that directly serve GNAD members.

A Long-Standing Commitment to Accessibility

The Accra workshop is not an isolated gesture. Telecel Ghana has maintained structured inclusion programmes for the Deaf community since 2016, when it launched Telecel SuperCare -- a dedicated support framework built around the needs of Deaf and hard-of-hearing customers. The initiative introduced accessible communication channels, affordable data packages, and products designed from the ground up with accessibility in mind.

Among the standout features of that framework is a customer service channel activated via *494#, through which Deaf customers can connect with service agents -- many of whom are Deaf themselves or professionally trained in sign language -- via video and WhatsApp calls. It is a setup that reflects an understanding that accessibility is not an add-on but an operating principle.

• Telecel SuperCare launched in 2016 with dedicated Deaf customer support
• Agents reachable via *494# through video and WhatsApp calls
• Free merchant SIMs and business accounts provided at the workshop
• Annual STEM training for Deaf students through the Telecel Foundation

Policy Advocacy Beyond the Workshop Room

Telecel Ghana's engagement with the Deaf community has also extended into public advocacy. At the 2025 International Week of the Deaf, held in Saltpond in the Central Region, the company made a direct call for sign language studies to be integrated into Ghana's school curriculum and public service delivery systems -- arguing that the continued exclusion of sign language restricts Deaf people's access to healthcare, education, and meaningful employment.

In a related media advocacy forum, Telecel joined calls for a national policy on sign language interpretation in public information delivery, as well as broader subtitling of television broadcasts -- changes that would benefit hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians.

According to Ghana's 2021 Population and Housing Census, more than 211,000 people in the country are Deaf or hard of hearing, with over 470,000 living with varying degrees of hearing loss.

Through the Telecel Foundation, Deaf students receive STEM training each year on the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, where they explore foundational concepts in artificial intelligence. Telecel Ghana said these initiatives are part of a deliberate, long-term strategy to embed accessibility into both its commercial operations and its broader digital transformation agenda.

What This Means for Ghana's Digital Economy

With over 211,000 Deaf or hard-of-hearing Ghanaians -- and a broader population of 470,000 living with varying degrees of hearing loss -- the stakes of digital exclusion are significant. When entrepreneurs from this community are left out of mobile payment systems, digital commerce platforms, or financial literacy programming, the economic cost is borne not just by those individuals but by their households and communities.

The Accra workshop offered a model for what targeted inclusion can look like in practice: not a one-size-fits-all digital outreach campaign, but a structured intervention that accounted for communication needs, practical setup barriers, and the specific business realities of Deaf traders and artisans.

As Ghana's digital economy continues to expand -- driven by mobile money adoption, e-commerce growth, and fintech innovation -- programmes like this one will determine whether that expansion is genuinely inclusive or whether it leaves entire communities behind. Telecel Ghana's Accra workshop suggests the latter outcome is not inevitable, provided companies are willing to invest in the intentional, long-term work that real inclusion requires.