By Daniel Adu Darko
Goaso, Aug. 24, GNA – An GH¢8,000 financial support from the Social Investment Fund (SIF) has helped a 54-year-old woman with disability to expand her charcoal business at Goaso-Abotanso in the Asunafo North Municipality, creating income for herself and employment opportunities for others.
For Madam Regina Fosua, disability has never been a reason to give up on her dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Madam Fosua, who has operated the business for the past 15 years, said the support had strengthened her operations and enabled her to meet growing customer demand.
The funding was provided under the SIF’s Post-COVID-19 Skills Development and Productivity Enhancement Project, funded by the African Development Bank.
Madam Fosua said she started the charcoal business with her own capital and initially doubted that her application for the support would be successful until she received a phone call asking her to report and collect the funds.
“The fund has been helpful to the growth of my business,” she told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview.
The business, she said, had grown to the point that she had people who purchased, supplied and distributed charcoal to customers in and around Asunafo North whenever orders were received.
However, she said high distribution costs remained a major challenge, as tricycle operators who delivered the charcoal to customers took a significant portion of the revenue, leaving the business with limited profit margins.
She explained that the narrow profit margins made it difficult for her to employ more persons with disability and provide them with sustainable livelihoods.
Madam Fosua said her immediate goal was to raise additional funds to develop a structure on a parcel of land she had acquired, where she could purchase charcoal in bulk and store it for onward distribution.
“I know that with time, I will be able to do that,” she said, adding that the investment would reduce some of her operational challenges and improve the profitability of the business.
Due to her physical condition, Madam Fosua said she relied on people whom she paid to purchase charcoal and distribute it to customers on her behalf.
Despite the challenges, she said the business continued to provide food for her household while enabling her to pay people who worked for her whenever there was business.
Madam Fosua called for greater support for persons with disability (PWDs) who were willing to establish and grow businesses, saying inclusive financing could help transform them from beneficiaries of social support into contributors to the local economy.
She said some PWDs might feel discouraged by their conditions and resort to begging, but that was never her approach to life.
“Some people with disability have the mindset that they won’t work because of their conditions and instead beg for alms. But that has never been my mindset,” she said.
Madam Fosua said she was determined to work rather than become a burden on her family or community.
“This business is helping to put food on my table and even pay others who work for me as and when business is available,” she said.
She also emphasised the importance of transparency in running her enterprise, saying she ensured that people who worked with her understood how much the business generated and appreciated whatever amount she was able to pay them.
The experience of Madam Fosua underscores the potential of targeted financial support to promote the inclusion of PWDs in Ghana’s small and medium-sized enterprise sector, particularly when such support is linked to business expansion and employment creation.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
24 Aug. 2026
Reporter: Daniel Adu Darko
Email: [email protected]