Welcome to Ghana's latest entry into mobility: Gold Cab!

Welcome to Ghana's latest entry into mobility: Gold Cab!,
originally uploaded by ekbensah.

This afternoon, I went to Madina (featured earlier) to go buy some groceries, with a friend who works where this car was parked (A&C Shopping Mall).

This would probably have not been news, except for the fact that this white car--a brand-new FIAT Sereno(sp?)--fully air-conditioned took me around East Legon, Madina for the two hours I used it for, charging me a cool Ghanaian cedis100,000/hr (that's under $10/hr).

It's one of twenty cars from this Kokomlemle-based Cab service. Kokomlemle is very near BusyInternet, which has also been featured on this blog earlier.

Coming to fetch me at East Legon cost NOTHING to me. I jsut had to pay for the hours I used them. The guy came in uniform, speaks very good English, and engaged in small, but good conversation.

Definitely one to recommend if ever you come to Ghana one of these days. TEL:+233.21.235.069 / +233.21.235.091.

That inscription you see on the car is their logo. Click to enlarge!

So, in Ghana, we have, by way of transport:
a. privately-registered taxis that come in dual colours [Henry Osei is the owner of these cabs above, a businessman I am told];
b. tro-tros
c. private cars
d. metro mass buses
e. cab service--new!

Hooray for diversity!

On the Move in Accra: Mobile Police

Mobile policeman, accra,
originally uploaded by ekbensah.

a mobile policeman passes by us last week, looking very determined, as if he were in a motorcade for the President.

Considering the speed with which he passed by, maybe, he was in need of responding to a call of nature;-) The toilet bowls there would have been of no use to him!;-))

Front view of Ghana's human rights body, in Accra

front view of Ghana's human rights body, in Accra,
originally uploaded by ekbensah.

I was up "High Street" in Accra this morning (this is where the big banks of Standard Chartered; our nation's major park, named after the first President--Kwame Nkrumah--is located; as well as main headquarters of Ghana's still state-owned Ghana Commercial Bank, established 1957; and a slew of other institutions) on a work-related issue, with one of my colleagues. We were meeting officials from the so-called CHRAJ, or Commission on Human Rights and Adminstrative Justice, which has been monitoring and intervening in favour of a rights-based society since 1993. A good number of the officials there are legal practitioners. Feel free to check out their website.

Shame about their location: at the old Parliament House. You can imagine that they haven't upgraded the building, so it looks a bit incongruous seeing state-of-the-art IT equipment, coupled with men and women smartly-dressed, speaking in legalese and otherwise, when...the kitchen is, for example,...far from salubrious!!

Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)

Despite this huge placard in town, you'd be surprised by the difficulties associated with registering, which include first and foremost: apathy:-( Though the government has done a good job in communicating the NHIS to its citizens by way of TV ads (both in major local languages, and English), its full implementation remains a mystery;-) Some districts and areas have fully-subscribed; others are seeing very low levels.

Evidently more work to do than this huge placard, no?;-)

A Place for Kids to Go

Enough said?

This is located minutes away from where I work. Too quiet a neighbourhood for me!!

Have a good weekend!!:-)

A Glimpse of the Ubiquitous Shell Shop

Ubiquitous, cimply because they are littered all over the capital--and beyond! Few Ghanaians can now manage without visiting their Shell Shop (even if some of the prices of the goods are a tad higher than the retail price);-)

Wahoo--it posted!:-)

afternoon probs...

…with uploading of blogger photosL

 

Why???!!!

Finally!!-Battle of the Coke Vans:-)

Just a light-relief picture for the weekend of two vans--both from the Coca Cola Company of Ghana--having stopped at a shop just minutes walk away from where I work.

Now tell me: who's gonna win the battle of the Coca Cola vans?:-))

sorry!!

still having difficulty posting pictures from blogger!!!:-( anyone having the same problem?

blogger upoading...

...proviing difficult:-( will not load..maybe better luck tomorrow?

hope you are all well:-)

Madina Merriness: Mobile Phone Repair by Mobile Max

I was in Madina this afternoon to take my phone for repairs. You might remember Madina a while back, where I featured the Madina Police station and the market.

This is the placard of "Mobile Max", one of the largest Mobile phone retailers in the country, with many branches dotted around the capital. It has a penchant for giving people clocks, radios, and irons around festive seasons--with a caveat: buy something beyond, say, cedis500,000 ($uS50.00);-)

Whilst we are on Metro Mass Transport

This is a picture, taken last year, of me holding a ticket for the Metro Mass Transport bus I took. If you are interested, you can read more on this here, about how it began to upstage the tro-tros, that are the soul and life of many a foreigner travelling througout Ghana.

In any event, the 1000 cedis you see is so cheap it's not funny;-) $US1=cedis 9000, so that's, what, 1/9th of a dollar, or 9 cents? to travel from inside the capital to the airport area, which is about twenty minutes.

Going to the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange

That orange bus there is one of our many Metro Mass Transport buses, which have been providing free transport for pupils to school during school period, and offering very low prices within the city (ç1,500-2000)-- around 15 to 22 cents.. More of these to come!

good to be back!

This is where I was last week for a conference:

Cresta Royale--a plush, 4* South African hotel that has won the award this year for the best hospitality in Accra. You can visit their website here.

Just a small note...

...I will be away from my desk/office for next few days for an organisational conference, but will post when I can. I am STILL here in the capital, and will be sure to bring you some juicy pictures. Right now, blogger is refusing to accept photos. PLease accept my apologies:-)

Welcome to West Africa's ICT Powerhouse

Though I took this picture last year, I don't want to re-invent the wheel, so I'm copying what the website says about West Africa's biggest ICT centre:

The Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE), Ghana's first Advanced Information Technology Institute works to stimulate the growth of the ICT Sector in ECOWAS. Established in 2003, through a partnership between the Government of Ghana and the Government of India, this state-of the-art facility provides a dynamic environment for innovation, teaching and learning as well as practical research on the application of ICT4D in Africa.

The Centre houses West Africa's first supercomputer as well as top-of-the line desktops and laptops. The spacious meeting and lecture rooms as well as the 802.11 wireless network guarantee that the AITI-KACE can host close to a 1000 IT professionals, researchers, visitors and trainees at any given time.

from: http://www.aiti-kace.com.gh/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=32

On that note, I'd like to wish you a very relaxing and stress-free weekend!

PS.pour tous mes amis francais, j'aimerais leur souhaiter une agreable journee du fete pour le 14 juillet!

A Glimpse of CITI-97.3FM's weekly free Salsa Mania event

So there I was on Wednesday evening around 9.30pm at the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel, located "within 3-6 minutes drive of USAID, the World Bank Office, Danish, Canadian, German, Swiss, Nigerian and American Diplomatic Missions, Ghana Immigration Service and National Theatre, Government Ministries and the Accra Intentional Center, all on “traffic free” routes."(from: http://www.coconutgrovehotels.com.gh/Regency/regency_index.htm on private business with my parents when I heard feedback from the car's radio as we approached.

It was CITI-97.3FM--the Accra-based English speaking private radio station, which you can listen to in crystal-clear quality wherever you are in the world (I know, cos people from Germany and the UK have been calling in the 8.45am regular phone-ins to the CITI Breakfast Show; and listeners send emls from South Africa and the US!)--hosting its weekly Wednesday Salsa Mania event, where Latin American tunes are played, and people get FREE Salsa lessons.

Guess you never thought Salsa was big in Accra. Now you know;-)

Oh yeah, you see the guy on the left of this picture wearing a tie, and holding his mobile phone, with a document, or so, under his left arm?

Definitely middle class!

for more on teh CITI-FM Salsa page, click here

Welcome to the Biggest Internet Cafe in (West) Africa!

Here's a popular view of it, which I captured in April when I was there for a three-day training...

...and this is a view from one of the BusyInternet eateries, where you get some nice, juicy kebabs

Check the website out:Busy Internet. It's owned by a New Yorker. I'm not about to do any premature advertising for it--it's rich enough--so I exhort you all to check the website out for yourselves:-))

The Substitute

In Ghana, given the mostly clement weather, when your mower breaks down, this is what you do:

Mow the lawn...

...with a wonky cutlass:-))

Liberation Circle, Accra

I took this picture, as the date suggests, last May. To the immediate right is the road that leads to the Accra International Conference Centre. Wondering why there is so much blue? Well, that's from the taxi from which I took this picture.

Another thing you might notice about this picture are the trees in the middle, which is the Liberation circle. It is an interesting area in the sense that that the routes that lead from the circle go to our Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, which ought to regulate our utilities, but doesn't always do so effectively;-); many banks, such as SG-SSB, which is a merger between Ghana's Social Security Bank, and the worldwide Societe Generale, which also operates in Belgium (in fact one of the biggest there).

It also leads to downtown Accra, including the Electricity Company of Ghana, which I featured earlier in these series of pictures.

Silver Star Tower, Airport 'City'

Located just minutes drive from Ghana's airport, you will find Silver Star Tower, which is a huge edifice that hosts Ghana International Airlines; South African Stanbic Bank, regional West African bank ECOBANK.