We can work: driving disability inclusion and dignified work in Nigeria
In the vibrant city of Lagos, Impact Hub is shaping a future where young people with disabilities are no longer excluded from opportunities but recognised as innovators, leaders, and impact makers in Nigeria’s growth story.
- Impact Hub Lagos
Across Africa, millions of young people with disabilities face extraordinary barriers to entering the workforce; not because they lack talent or ambition, but because systems have not been designed with them in mind. Yet when given the right opportunities, these young people consistently prove they can thrive as entrepreneurs, employees, and advocates.
In 2024, Impact Hub Lagos joined We Can Work as Nigeria’s entrepreneurship support organisation, taking on the mission of equipping young persons with disabilities with the skills, confidence, and opportunities to access dignified and fulfilling work. Spearheaded by Light for the World in partnership with the African Disability Forum and funded by the Mastercard Foundation, the initiative is active in seven African countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Uganda, with the ambitious goal of enabling one million young people with disabilities to access dignified work by 2030.
At Impact Hub Lagos, the focus has been on guiding participants through Core Life Skills training, entrepreneurship development, and employability support. Participants also receive milestone-based seed funding and business registration support; tangible resources that help turn skills into sustainable livelihoods.
For Impact Hub Lagos, this work is about more than training. It is about transforming systems and shifting perceptions, ensuring that young people with disabilities are not left on the margins but placed at the centre of Africa’s growth story.
Seeds of impact, stories of change
In its first year in Nigeria, We Can Work supported around 100 young people with disabilities across Lagos, the nation’s bustling economic capital, and Abuja, its political capital. The outcomes reveal both the scale and depth of change, best illustrated through the participants’ own journeys.
Joy Akinsogba, a young woman with albinism, is one of the ten percent(10%) of beneficiaries who became Disability Inclusion Facilitators. She now advocates for inclusion within organisations and government structures, while also supporting the second year of programme implementation at Impact Hub Lagos. Joy’s journey demonstrates how an opportunity can create multipliers of impact; one empowered individual becomes a catalyst for many.
Entrepreneurship has been another powerful pathway. Sixty-five percent (65%) of participants successfully launched or scaled small businesses; a figure embodied by Ayoade Olalekan, a visually impaired entrepreneur. With seed funding and training from the programme, he expanded his smoothie business and has since begun training other young people with disabilities in his community. His story illustrates how entrepreneurship can spark both independence and the ripple effects of empowerment.
Other participants also broke new ground. Around twenty percent (20%) transitioned into internships or formal jobs, showing the growing potential of inclusive hiring practices. Meanwhile, five percent (5%) engaged in advocacy campaigns, raising awareness and influencing conversations on workplace equity and disability rights.
These figures are not just metrics; they represent lives changed and systems challenged. Together, they show how with the proper support, young people with disabilities are rewriting the story of work and inclusion in Nigeria.
Changing systems and mindsets
Impact Hub Lagos, through the We Can Work programme, is not only preparing young people with disabilities for opportunities; it is reshaping the systems around them. Employers, governments, and institutions are challenged to rethink what disability inclusion looks like and to open pathways that have long been closed.
As Ambrose Murangira, Technical Director for Disability Inclusion at Light for the World, explains: “The We Can Work programme is a response to the commonly asked question by employers: can persons with disabilities work? We say, ‘Yes, We Can Work.’ The ‘We’ are the young persons with disabilities who will drive the initiative, supporting mainstream organisations, companies, and governments in becoming disability inclusive.”
This vision is already taking root in Nigeria. Beneficiaries are not only entering jobs or launching businesses, but also stepping forward as facilitators and advocates, proving that inclusion is not a favour; it is a force for systemic change.
In Lagos, a city defined by energy, ambition, and resilience, Impact Hub is helping to rewrite the story of disability and work. We Can Work is more than a programme; it is a movement that challenges exclusion, spotlights talent, and builds bridges to opportunity.
In 2025, as the initiative entered its second year in Nigeria, the message was clear. Young people with disabilities are not waiting to be included; they are driving inclusion themselves. And with the right platforms and partnerships, their impact will ripple across Nigeria, across Africa, and beyond.
Yes, We Can Work.
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