To Bryan - internet cafes!

hi bryan! thx 2 gprs, am able 2 answer u, albeit not in the best
manner! Many apologies! That said, pls try busyinternet.com. it is one
of the most popular n biggest in west africa !

Merry christmas to u all!

Just being back
from institutional
retreat in elmina
beach resort,
central region of
ghana, i seriously
doubt that as i
happily surf the
'net on my
motorola z6, i can
provide coherent
blog entries!
While i allow
self-indulgence
2wards christmas
festivities, allow
me 2 wish all u
regular n non-
regular readers a
stupendous
christmas period,
full of peace n
love...

GBS Advert on the Spintex Road...Blogging Hiatus

This orange ad is one that has littered parts of the capital. It is of Gateway Broadcasting Services--a new pan-African satellite provider. Check out its interesting slogan.

Am away on an institutional retreat from tomorrow for six good days at this place here: http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2007/01/snapshot-of-central-region-elmina-beach.html.

Blogging will be sporadic, but I will definitely be doing it!

If you Had Any Doubt about Being in East Legon...

You probably may not now!;-) I thought I'd try this picture out; it's not from your conventional digital camera, but a camera-phone!

Have a good day!

More Developments at A&C Shopping Mall

The developments look they're coming along nicely. Everything is supposed to be ready by 2008.

Akwaaba!: A&C African Market...Preparing for National Farmer's Day!

East Legon's A&C Shopping Mall is going places, what with its new-since-July African Market, where it is expected a number of traditionally "African" and Ghanaian items (crafts; food and whatnot) will be sold.

As to whether it will put the indigenous enterprises out of business, only time will tell--but I'll be sure to actively be there--rather than bring you a merely passive view of the market, next time.

For now, have yourselves a good weekend--as tomorrow is Farmer's Day in Ghana, where we award and celebrate our Farmers!

Till Monday!

Welcome to "The Guide House" in Accra

Totally unbeknownst to me till now (three years and a bit after coming back to Ghana), I now realise that this building is called "The Guide House". A curious name you might think.

Most visible is the "EPP Book Shop", which is just about Ghana's most popular book outlet. It has a website, which you can visit right here: http://eppbookservices.com/beta/about/branches.asp

Just checking out their website (the first time for me) I am rather impressed by the various genres available--including crime books!

Go check it out. This building is located in the Central Business District--some minutes away from where I took the picture of yesterday's post.

Welcome to Makola Market!

Given that this is my first post on Makola Market, I am not going to re-invent the wheel--as there are others that have written qualitatively about it, so here's a post from Allafrica.com photo essay:

West Africa's markets are legendary and none more so than the famous Makola market in Ghana's capital, Accra. Run by powerful women traders, Makola is a place where you can buy anything you need - manufactured and imported foods, fresh produce, tools, medicines, shoes, and pots and pans. It's also a place that's good for the soul; its humour and energy will recharge your batteries.

Even Ghanaians who do not live in the capital know about the city's legendary market which has risen like a phoenix from the devastation of a fire more than once.

For visitors, the market conjures up the sights and sounds - as well as the smells and aromas - of West African cookery; the mouth waters as you move from stall to stall, imagining the spread on the table once the shopping is home and the cooking complete!

If you aren't lucky enough to be in a West African city, you can still imagine you're there. Whether you are in New York, Paris or Sao Paolo, Johannesburg, Nairobi or Cairo, click on the link and join Ofeibea Quist-Arcton on a stroll through Makola Market. It will do you good...

enjoy!!

Can You Tell Where I am? Google Maps Doesn't Know:-(

I suspect strongly that some day Google Maps might be able to find out that I am sitting by a computer in East Legon.

In a different take from usual posts, I thought I'd give you this entry as an insight into how our GPRS-enabled mobile service providers (this case Onetouch is able to allow us check email (see on the right)--and now, thanks to Google, even help us locate where we are in town!

I did a search and the satellite was able to, after some five minutes, locate Brussels and even the motorway there. Regrettably Google Maps couldn't find the Tema motorway--though it was able to find Tema (as you can see above).

My Pet Dog Enjoying the Central Region

Here's a light one for the weekend;-) My pet dog (a golden retriever), Fenix, likes to sit in the backseat of the car when we're travelling together to the Central Region of Ghana.

What could he be thinking about? He looks so serious! Yet there's so many beautiful palm trees passing by him!

Enjoy the weekend!!

Check the Extreme Left: Front of Ghana School of Law

Here's the scene: a taxi going northwards into Accra, with many people milling by on the pavement. There is a school nearby, and schoolchildren (yellow and brown costumes) are making their way...somewhere. There are also traders (pink shirt) left, right, centre.

Talk about social engineering!

Who would have thought that so so close to Makola, which is Accra's biggest and most quintessential market, would be Ghana's Law School--but there it is!

Here's the blurb from elsewhere on the web about the Law School:

The Ghana School of Law was opened in November 1958, the first of its kind in Sub-
Sahara Africa. It is situated in Makola, Accra, close to the Supreme Court.

The first students completed training at the Law School in June 1963. between June 1963 and October 2004, as many as 3,000 lawyers have been trained at the Law School.

In the field of legislative drafting, the Law School has available to it the services of a distinguished and renowned figure in the subject, Professor V C R A C Crabbe as well asPage 5

Mrs Sabina Ofori-Boateng, Mr Gottfried Nikoi and Mrs Estelle Appiah who are all
Ghanaian citizens with extensive experience in legislative drafting.

The Law School has an infrastructure and environment which is conducive to intensive
study. It has a well-stocked library, internet resources and a computer laboratory,
spacious premises and good administrative support.

Who wants to study law?

Jaria Hotel, East Legon

In my series of shameless promotions that will earn me nothing, here is the latest feature: Jaria Hotel.

Located some five minutes drive from A&C Shopping Mall, it packs a claustrophobic punch...in the sense that it looks modern when you step inside, but it's just a tad claustrophobic in terms of the layout--like it was supposed to be a guest house, but they changed their mind mid-stream to turn it into a hotel.

An example of this is the way in which the swimming pool meets you just as you enter the compound. A bit too close for comfort I would say!!

That said, visiting this place over the weekend -- as I did, for a work-related conference -- was not bad. Plenty sun, and plenty water for swimming, if that's your sort of thing!

EIther way, feel free to check out their website here: http://www.jariahotel.com.

Inside Shoprite, Ghana at Accra Mall

Shoprite opened its doors to Ghanaians on 1 November, but I failed to blog about it, believing it to be more of the same. I chaged my mind last night when I was there--armed with my camera--to take a picture for posting, naturally on this blog.

As you can probably see, this is the fruit and veg section, adjacent to the fast foods section. I could hardly believe there to be so many Ghanaians in town on a Sunday night around 8.30pm!!

More pictures of the mall are in the offing--so stay tuned!

Marketwoman Displays her Yams for Sale

This is a scene right out of the market near Tema station, where a number of Ghanaian workers head to in travelling outside the centre of Accra. It is also located some minutes before the Tudu branch of the Electricity Company of Ghana.

Taken in isolation, you would be hard-pressed believing that the market behind this marketwoman could be located so close to the centre of town. You would be wrong. To some, that is the bane of Accra (human traffic); to foreigners and other Ghanaians alike, that is the beauty of this small, West African country.

Flying High into the Ghanaian Sky

An airplane veers meticulously towards the bright Ghanaian sky this afternoon. I caught it as I stood in traffic, near 37.

...Away it goes!...

Policeman Stops Tro-Tro...on Spintex Road

Looks like someone's going to have a bad day. I'm thinking it's the tro-tro driver whom I presume is in the green t-shirt.

Scenes like these are common Ghanaian currency, especially in the mornings when Ghanaians are going to work. Tro-tro drivers often capitalise on the chaos of traffic to do all sort of unconventional things, such as driving on shoulders and whatnot. Occasionally, a hawk-eyed police officer will put paid to such antics! The other side of the coin is that the police officer will necessarily stop a tro-tro driver, knowing he can extort money from him!

You pick your choice;-)

Car-Related Vignettes of Accra...

No surprises that there will still be vestiges of the accident in the minds of Ghanaians, for an accident of the magnitude of last week Wednesday that involved no less than the President of the nation, will prompt discussions for a while, and queries--like this one here. The photo shows the front cover of the what could be described as the "morning after (the night before)" picture, by the Daily Graphic...

That said, I thought I'd continue the car vignette by posting this one here of one I took earlier this morning on my way to work in a taxi. The driver of this car either inherited the car, or put all those stickers which were all generating a tag of "sanctimony" the more I looked. Sanctimony that can only be Ghana-style;-)

I mean where on earth in this world do you find a sticker of "I love my wife"! (look closely at the top of the brake light, located in the middle

What tosh!

Spintex Road Traffic at Night

It's already bad experiencing Spintex road traffic, which I can only describe as "legendary", but it's especially worse this time of the year, when the whole world is a whisker away from festivities of Christmas...

This is Ghana's National Theatre!

This is the front of the National Theatre. Located minutes away from the British Council, it certainly is an inimitable structure...built for us by the Chinese!!!

Have a good weekend!

Accra by Night: Night Traffic...with a Twist!

The combination of speed, and headlamps of oncoming cars produced these fancy and funky lights by this white Nissan Terrano travelling southwards.

Traffic. A Crowd. An Accident. Involving the Ghanaian President

Traffic on the 37 military road

.

A crowd

.

A police tow van

.

a police officer directing traffic

A crowd is able to congregate round a green light, against the backdrop of what looks like heavy traffic

Something's certainly caught the crowd's attention

This is the perfect scene for comment. Some twenty-five minutes before I arrived here from a work-related press conference to see this scene--and take a picture of it--my Mum called me to ask me whether I had heard the news about no less than the President of Ghana John Kufuor being involved in a near-fatal car crash that involved the car somersaulting THREE times, after a car, travelling at top speed hit it.

Here is how Reuters reported it:

Ghanaian President Kufuor involved in car accident - witnesses

Wed 14 Nov 2007, 13:34 GMT
[-] Text [+]

ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghanaian President John Kufuor, chairman of the African Union, escaped unhurt when a car crashed into his vehicle on Wednesday, rolling it over several times, officials and witnesses said.

Presidential Press Secretary Andy Awuni said Kufuor appeared healthy and composed but was undergoing medical checks in the presidential palace to ensure he was not at risk.

Witnesses said a red car coming from the opposite direction struck the president's vehicle at a major intersection near the Kotoka International Airport in the capital Accra.


"The car finally rested on the sidewalk and the people around helped his security men to pull him out. The president came out holding his head," James Kobinah, an electrician working nearby, told Reuters.

Awuni said police were investigating the cause of the accident and would question the driver of the red car, who was being treated in hospital. Some other people involved in the accident were also receiving medical attention.

"The picture is not very clear about the accident," Awuni said. "It's a bit strange for the car to run into his car directly."

© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved
from: http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN447886.html

This is how Ghana's Joy FM reported it:

President Kufuor escapes unhurt after his car was rammed late morning Wednesday while on his way to his office.

President Kufuor is reported to be in good health and already back in his seat at the Castle, Osu, after he escaped unhurt in a late morning accident on Wednesday.

A man yet to be identified is said to have driven a Benz saloon car straight into that of the President at the Opeibea Intersection on the Airport – 37 Military Hospital road.

President Kufuor was said to be on his way to his office.

According to Mr. Andrew Awuni, Press Secretary to the President, those who were injured, including the President’s driver, have been moved to the 37 Military Hospital for medical check-up.

“But the President is doing well. He is right in his seat here at the Castle,” Awuni assured.

Awuni, who described the accident as a strange one, said only two cars were involved but added it was not clear how many people may have been involved. He could also not tell the whereabouts of the driver of the other vehicle and suggested he might be at the hospital or with the President’s security detail.

Explaining why the accident appeared strange, he said usually outriders would be fending off all junctions, which they did, “nevertheless this car came and just ran into the President’s car and of course nobody expects to see an accident so sometimes you don’t get to see how it happens.”

News filtering from the rumour mill as I walked round to take pictures was that the driver was a Lebanese man. The taxi driver who brought me to the office speculated about how problematic it would have been if it had been a Ghanaian that crashed into the presidential convoy!!

"Little England": A Nice Cosy Spot in East Legon

In yet another free marketing venture, I present to you..."Little England". Owned by a Ghanaian lady, married to a Brit, this place offers...English food, such as fish and chips and much more.

Shame I haven't been there yet to savour the food, but I'll be sure to go there one of these days and report back!

I checked out the prices, and they're decent, as in GHC7.50 ($US8.00) for what are supposedly "large prawns" in salad, which comes with a side order of chips/rice.

Bon appetit...in advance!

Here's your Ghana Taxi!

Just in case you have any doubt, this is a picture of what a typical taxi in Ghana looks like: double-coloured (always either yellow and white, yellow and brown, with at least a yellow colour in there somewhere!).

It is also followed by yellow number plates, with black lettering/digits. Private cars, conversely, have WHITE backgrounds as their plates. The "GW" at the beginning is always a tell-tale sign of where in Ghana it was registered. Here, the "GW" means Accra. Given the speed with which cars are being registered in the country these days, you will now see "GS", which is also Accra.

It originally started with "GR" for Greater Accra Region; whilst those who registered it at Tema got "GT".

Of Serene Snapshots & Signboards in East Legon (on a Weekday)

Too right! There is quite a lot of greenery in East Legon...



...and signboards, too!

Remember Eastgate Hotel?

(Talk about free advertising! Wonder whether I'm gonna get paid for this;-)) )

Have yourselves a stress-free weekend!

Ghana's Biggest Mobile Service Provider MTN Makes Dastardly Big Claims...

Check the two billboards out. Which is the biggest? South Africa-based MTN is certainly the biggest, exhorting one to "Go Make that Call".

The capital of Accra has been replete with an unprecedented psychedelic quality of yellow in the sense that there is a lot of yellow around--and it is certainly not the Ghanaian sun!

It's about MTN and its campaign of y'ello--ness, which is doing very little for its self-esteem off-late. This is because Ghana's regulator, the National Communications Authority, in an unprecedented move called on MTN and ONETOUCH, which has 70% stake owned by Ghana (which purchase is being bidded by Singapore Telecom) to shape up or be caused to audit their accounts, and face severe sanctions. You can read the story here: http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=20073&email=html.

Whilst you are at it, you might want to check out MTN's yellow plane ensconced in the grassy knoll, of sorts, of Tetteh Quarshie interchange!



STOP PRESS: just heard that the regulator has apparently settled with both companies! It will be up to the media to inform us of the extent of these discussions!!

DEMOLITION MEN!!: Clean-up of Accra Begins...

It began Monday with what would prove to be a discerning afternoon, replete with dramatic and cascading scenes of pockets of crowds congregating in clusters of emotion, awe, surprise and resignation as men fron Accra Metropolitan Assembly, in collaboration with Zoom Lion--all clad in reflective attire--started demolishing structures, kiosks and whatnot.

All this was happening in a messy atmosphere of smoke, emanating from the furious fire of burning wood and metal.

It truly was a sight to behold.

The helplessness of those whose kiosks were being destroyed was palpable. The glimmer of hope in their eyes for a daily income must have died there and then.

But this was to be expected--for in the past few weeks, the AMA has undertaken a clean-up exercise of Accra--to rid the capital of filth before 15 countries descend into the country in January 2008 for the Cup of African Nations, to be hosted in Ghana.

Either way, the taxi driver who brought me back to the office was ambivalent. He felt that Ghanaians are too stubborn for their own good and that, whilst the situation was sad, the "squatters" had been informed as recently as a six months to a year ago.

"We Ghanaians, we are too stubborn!" he added as he fropped me off, taking my fee.

Could't agree more!!

Ghana Petrol Prices Increase...

The increase came yesterday--very much to the chagrin of consumers.

As someone who commutes with taxis off and on, I was shocked to learn that a short distance that would attract a cost of GHC1.00, or $US1.07, now is GHC1.50! Ofcourse, that might have been an arbitrary price--as taxi drivers are wont to fix--but what's clear is that the price increases are real:

New Petrol Prices Announced

General News - Thu, 01 Nov 2007

THE NATIONAL PETROLEUM Authority (NPA) has announced new prices for petroleum products effective today November I, 2007.
The new prices show an increase in the cost of petrol by 4 per cent.

This means that a litre of petrol will now sell at 97.78Gp from a previous price of 93Gp.

The upward adjustment has become necessary because of the hike in crude oil prices on the world market. The price of crude oil on the world market continues to surge. As at last night, a barrel of crude was selling for $93.38 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
http://www.modernghana.com/GhanaHome/NewsArchive/news_details.asp?menu_id=1&id=VFZSUk1rNVVVWG89

Too bad for the Ghanaian pocket?

Wanna See Accra by bus? Try ACCRA TOURS...

Here's the news item announcing Accra tours in January this year:

Accra Tours Project Launched

By Times Reporter

Saturday, 27 January 2007

SOME school children boarding a bus after the launch yesterday of Accra Tours, a new tourism project.(Inset): Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Tourism and of Diasporan Relations, performing the launch. With him is Mrs. Stella Appenteng (left), president of the Tour Operations Union.

Accra Tours, an initiative of the Tourism Ministry in collaboration with the Tour Operators Union, Tour Guides Association and Metro Mass Transit, commences operations on January 31. It will be a professionally-run guided tour service aimed at promoting domestic tourism.

Enjoy!!

Eating Out...at Cafe de Paris, on a Warm Afternoon in Accra

This afternoon, passed by Max Mart, and then decided to pass by this place for a bite. Considering the taciturn atmosphere, only punctuated with antiquated songs by Julio Iglesias on the tv (which turned out to be a DVD), I was left alone to commune with my thoughts and take a look at how this opportunity could be used to make it an "Accra Daily Photo" one.

First of all, "Cafe du Paris" is located on the ground floor of A&C Shopping Mall, and it's been a great while since I came here, as the food is not all that cheap.

I made the mistake of asking the waiter to recommend a sandwich dish to me, which he gladly did. I found out that he was recommending that, because that was the only dish he knew! out of the five proposed in the menu I am holding above.

Anyway, the food arrives, and this is what it looks like:



I was déçu**! It looked more like a glorified Club Sandwich than anything exotic:-( Either way, must say that on the positive side, the chips were this side of heaven--crisp to the hilt! I have to admit, though, that with the word "club" prefacing the "Club Cafebar", which went for a cool GHC4.70, or exactly $5.00, small wonder I got what I got!!

In any event, Paz, if you're reading, I hope it's whetted your appetite, and given great inspiration for your great site, which all of you can access here: http://thecookingadventuresofchefpaz.blogspot.com/

bon appetit!






**french for disappointed

Spintex Road at its Calmest

Here is a view of the Spintex Road, which I took last Friday afternoon, with the characteristic "shot from behind" angle I like to deploy once in a while. You can see that unusually, the traffic is flowing very smoothly as the taxi I was in took me to Accra Mall.

If you are wondering what that is on the left of the picture, wonder no more--they are indeed beds, designed to be slept on!

Nothing more, nothing less.

The Spintex Road is replete with many sights like these up until after GOIL filling station, when you begin to see more industries, and whatnot;-)

Accra Mall Update: The Banks Fight Back!

As you go and have a good weekend, just enjoy this one from Accra Mall, where ECOBANK, Stanbic, and BARCLAYS bank have all pitched camp.

Battle for customers is certainly a serious understatement!!

Too Much Accra Traffic? Here's What You Can Do...

Let's use the bicycle!

I was, as you might imagine, stuck in some lunch-time traffic near so-called 37 military hospital, when I saw this elderly man cruise past us, and proceed casually on his way--by way of his trusted bike! I so felt like conjuring my bike from the sky to do the same thing!;-))

Anyone for Labone Kebab?

Actually, there's no difference between kebab in Labone--an up-market suburb of Accra--and anywhere else in Accra! The only thing is that this kebab has been better packaged, and it's going for an unbelievable GHC0.50 (SO ghana pesewas), or $0.60 (60 cents) or so.

When you request one, they put some spice on it, and then onto a fire. Within five minutes, you got yourself a hot and nicely-condimented kebab!

Orders from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly!

Got anything to post in Accra?

Remember--you saw this notice from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly here first!!

Have a good weekend!

Who Said Teaching Had to be Easy?: Web 2.0, Here Journalists Come!!

Currently at Ghana's Kofi Annan IT Centre of Excellence (http://www.aiti-kace.com.gh/), where my voice is taking a break after having done some tutoring / coaching / teaching on web journalism.

This is a great passion--and coincidentally my main are of work professionally--which I am thankful to be using to impart to journalists and media practitioners that are more senior than myself  the art of...blogging.

It is reputed that I have a quintessential skill in blogging.

I say, for every one, there are many unsung heroes who know more than I do--and I am not just being humble.

It's been a while since I did public speaking, but for some strange reason, this felt great! Regrettably, I am unable to meet great minds here tomorrow, as work beckons, but, for sure, I'll be in touch with them all!

More pictures to follow soon!

Welcome to Monte Carlo...in Accra (in Labone)

Last Friday, my organisation asked a colleague and myself to accompany a group of Dutch students that were in Ghana to a restaurant Macquis Tante Marie. Situated in one of the plush parts of Accra, Labone, I got there a bit earlier than the time, and decided to take a look around--only to uncover that there's a Monte Carlo right here in Accra!!

Ghana International Press Centre

This is the quintessential home of Ghanaian journalists--and also where most press conferences are held in the country.

The Length and Breadth of...

...a Mass Metro Transport Bus!

You can visit the website here

Other links on this blog:/

http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2007/02/inside-ghanas-mass-metro-buses.html

http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2006/10/heres-almost-how-packed-i-was-in.html

Oh, this Accra Traffic!

Do you see the scaleof the traffic that can be visited upon the capital of Accra? Especially at rush-hour? You m ay see from the picture that there's a white van--that's a tro-tro, understandably trying to get in file of the traffic (after having left a shoulder where it dropped off (and took some) passengers).

Meanwhile, despite the green light from the traffic lights, and a bit of movement for vehicles, the density of traffic is nothing to write home about!