The Lagos State Government has facilitated the registration of 150 businesses owned by Persons with Disabilities with the Corporate Affairs Commission, as part of a drive to move entrepreneurs with disabilities from informal trading into the formal economy.
The registration was carried out through the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs. The beneficiaries are also undergoing enterprise development training covering financial literacy, bookkeeping, tax compliance, branding, digital visibility and entrepreneurial resilience.
The programme, themed “Beyond Limits: Building Sustainable and Compliant Enterprises,” took place on Monday at the STO Resource Centre Hall in Alausa, Ikeja.
Speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Oluwatoyin Oke-Osanyintolu, said the intervention was designed to address two challenges facing entrepreneurs with disabilities: access to economic opportunities and the ability to sustain a business after receiving support.
She said the government combined formal registration with practical training because formalisation alone would not guarantee that a business survives.
Beneficiaries are receiving instruction in entrepreneurial resilience, branding, digital visibility, financial literacy, bookkeeping and tax compliance, aimed at helping them run profitable businesses that also meet regulatory requirements.
Oke-Osanyintolu said the initiative reflected Lagos State’s commitment to ensuring that disability does not bar residents from full economic participation, and that it would strengthen participants’ ability to compete in the wider market
For small businesses, formal registration provides a recognised corporate identity, while record-keeping and tax compliance become increasingly important as enterprises seek to work with larger customers, institutions and other businesses.
ALSO READ: Small Business Ideas to Start in 2026
The General Manager of the Office for Disability Affairs, Adenike Oyetunde-Lawal, urged beneficiaries to look beyond attracting customers and focus on the quality of their products and services.
“Excellence must be the foundation upon which you build your businesses,” Oyetunde-Lawal told the entrepreneurs.
She said customer acquisition alone could not guarantee survival in an increasingly competitive market, and encouraged participants to build their enterprises around quality service, innovation and customer retention rather than relying on government support.
Facilitators Alani Lateef Adebayo and Adetutu Adesanya Ijasan led sessions on branding, digital visibility, financial literacy, bookkeeping and tax compliance.
CAC registration gives the beneficiaries formal corporate identities, which can improve their ability to access business opportunities, partnerships and financing within the formal economy. Registered businesses are typically better positioned to open corporate bank accounts, bid for contracts and qualify for government or private-sector support schemes that require verifiable business status.
Oyetunde-Lawal also encouraged women among the beneficiaries to strengthen their businesses through sound financial management, saying increased household income from women-led enterprises could have wider benefits for families and communities.
For the state, LASODA said the broader objective is to increase economic participation among Persons with Disabilities and bring more disability-owned businesses into Lagos’s formal economy, alongside its wider push on financial inclusion and business formalisation.
