Indigenous Social Entrepreneurship and Social Capital: Inclusion Tools for People with Disabilities in Ghana

This chapter explores the role of indigenous social entrepreneurship in enhancing social inclusion and social capital for people with disabilities (PWD) in Ghana. The research focused on cultural entrepreneurship in the Kumasi Metropolis. Putnam’s social capital theory served as the theoretical backing for the study and was used to identify how PWDs are linked, bridged, and bonded to create social inclusion. Through phenomenological research design, face-to-face interviews were used to gather data from twenty (20) individuals identified as PWDs and worked in the indigenous and cultural entrepreneurship sector. The study found that the indigenous social enterprises have created an avenue for individuals to identify and expand the social circles both with fellow PWDs and so-called “able people”. Another key finding of the study was that indigenous or cultural entrepreneurship in the city of Kumasi does not only turn the social inclusion needs of PWDs into profitable businesses and create the possibilities for social connection. It also brings society’s bias towards disabled persons to bare whiles cementing the involvement and contributions of PWDs in the restrictive cultural economy of Ghana.