Street-Hawking at Night in Accra

This is so familiar a sight during the evening on the streets of Accra that we probably don't even see it any more.

These hard-working ladies--that comprise what many would consider "the working class"--eke out a living from working almost 24/7.

Come hell or high water, they are here--and mostly it's the women that persevere. The young men hawk mostly chocolates, and small bites--and usually drop off earlier. This woman was still working around 8.30pm, selling sachet water.

Better than selling oneself, some might say!

(good to be back!)

The Ghanaian Mobile Landscape Will go Green Soon...

But when, exactly?

Globacom, Nigeria's indigenous mobile service, started springing up its billboards at the beginning of the year. There was attendant visibility with vacancies advertised around the same time.


Five months down the line, Glo has not commenced operations. It was supposed to have started around 2008; then the last quarter of 2009!

It was as far back as 2008 that it won a licence to operate in the country as Ghana's sixth mobile phone service. It sponsors one of Ghana's football leagues, and finally has an underground cable to enhance broadband access when it commences operations.

Question again, is when exactly will it commence operations?

Avoiding Traffic in Accra?

No-one in their right mind would say they love being stuck in traffic, especially when the weather is so sweltering the last thing they want to do is check the temperature!

If you are sufficiently privileged to own a motorbike, traffic-time proves handy, because it's just a matter of not only taking a diversion, but a diversion more easily than the four-wheeled counterparts we like to call cars!

The guy is wearing a helmet--hooray! I am  sure the National Road Safety Commission that has been banging on about helmets for motorbikes...might just give him a hug for being a paragon of road virtue;-)

Ghana's British Council Serves up a Good Message...

I was at the British Council today to visit a friend, and caught sight of this. I thought it was too good not to capture. Kind of like a Zeitgeist!

The Accra Rains are Back in Town!

Good to be back in town after almost 9 days of being outside Ghana. Even better that the rains have followed suit!

Question is--as ever: is the rest of Ghana adequately prepared for the rains? Much of this question animated one private radio station--CITI97.3fm--this morning.

Can we avert the attendant consequences and wretched lives that come in the wake of torrential rain, or will Ghanaians yet again politicise till Death do us part???

Call Centres in Accra are Great, But Who's Patronizing Them?

Allow me to clarify when I write "call centres". After all, there are quite a few in Accra.

There's one for electricity, which can be reached at 030.2611.611, and the one featured here is for water; it can be reached on toll-free number 0800.40.000.

I cannot for the life of me understand why from these two utilities, only one would be toll-free.

The electricity one for Electricity Company of Ghana(ECG) is considered a hotline, yet one has to pay for it! Last time I looked, these kind of services ought to be toll-free--like that of the Ghana Water Company, managed by Aqua Vitens Rand Limited.

Enough publicity for Ghana Water...I believe my point is well-noted: let's also make the electricity "hot line" toll-free!!

Help! Burning Taxi in Accra Central!!

I was near the AU Liberation circle area in Accra this morning to run a quick errand, when I caught sight of this burning car.

It was only turning back to peer at the strange image that I noticed it was one of those ubiquitous double-coloured cars Ghanaians recognise immediately as taxis.

Thankfully, my trusted cameraphone was nearby, resulting in this shot.




It remains unclear what could have triggered it, but there was thankfully no indication of casualties--just tremendous heat emanating even from the distance from where I took the picture!

Indonesian-Produced Rattan Baskets in Accra--Where are the Ghanaian-Made Ones??

I saw this basket, which goes for GHC8.50 (roughly 5.8US$). at Palace Shopping Mall on the Spintex Road.

I could not help but take a picture--not just to tell a story--but to run a mini-commentary on Ghana's basket-making industry.

I did a quick search, and read that Rattan Baskets are mostly-produced in Indonesia.

At a time when basket-weavers are creating some 1050 jobs in the Upper East region of Ghana only in April this year, it beggars belief that the Lebanese-owned Palace Shopping Mall is selling Indonesian-made baskets, without a trace of the indigenous, Ghanaian-made ones!!

"Don't Say Water, Say Voltic!"

True to form, I'm doing free publicity for Voltic, though I really don't intend to or even need to.

Voltic has been the choice of conferences for many years in Ghana. They've even gone the way of sachet water. Though they occasionally taste funny, they remain a quintessential name for water in Ghana when you want it. They've been around since 1995.

You can read more about the company here: http://www.voltic-group.com/contact_us.html

China in Ghana?

I cannot help but wonder whether this picture is not sufficient proof of the pivotal role of China's capital in Ghana?

4th Blogoversary! (Not Your Usual Accra Daily Photo!)

Like the blogger himself celebrating his birthday today, this blog is exactly 4 years old, coming to life back on April 25th, 2006--the same year the World Cup in Germany would be played.

Happy Blogoversary, ADP!

"Toyota City" at...the National Identification Authority(NIA)

I suspected yesterday's post would far from elicit a response. Beyond the Ghanaian citizen who might be clueless, it was always going to be difficult for anyone to get a sense of where "Toyota City" was located.

Let me get the secret out: it is located at the headquarters of the National Identification Authority. Even the building is yet to be painted as glossily as most of these kind of buildings tend to look, but I must say that it is in a rather large compound, what with the Toyota pickups and all (see the last post).

You might re-call that in February, I experienced a rather long queue waiting to register details for my ID.

Well, this is the place where the cards will be eventually issued. I just checked the website (as the registration throughout the country is incomplete) and the last time it was updated was...20 April! Wow...

Let's keep our fingers crossed for better services from the NIA!

"Toyota Country" in Accra!

Just perusing the the kind of cars is pretty boring: mostly full of Toyota pick-ups.

All set against the backdrop of a fast-developing landscape in Accra.

Any ideas where this could be? Any pointers?

After the Elusive Ghanaian Harmattan...

...are Ghanaians now supposed to brace themselves for some drought--as claimed by today's edition of the "Ghanaian Times"? The actual story can be found here: http://www.newtimes.com.gh/story/1203.

If you remember, the harmattan lasted barely two weeks.

Climate change a-beckoning?







labels: ghana climate, ghana climate change, climate change, harmattan

Welcome to Ghana's Teacher's Hall (GNAT Hall)

A place that is more often than not used by campaigners and others to debate and deliberate.

It is also a reflection of the historical role played by teachers in national development, and is known as "GNAT hall". GNAT stands for the Ghana National Association of Teachers, and they have a website! http://www.ghanateachers.org/.

Truth be told, they're so well-organised they offer financial services!

More here: http://www.teachersfund.org.gh/tf_financial.html



labels: ghana teachers, gnat, gnat hall

Can You Spot the Ghanaian Chief?

Earlier this week, British premier Gordon Brown went to see the Queen to request her to dissolve Parliament in readiness for a general election on 6 May.

In Ghana, we don't have a Prime Minister, but a President--who does not need to see any traditional chief before calling a general election. Elections are held every four years, and it is politicians that are wont to curry favours from these chiefs, as they represent a constituency which the politicians would want to capitalise on.

These "chiefs" in the picture--identifiable by their colourful and psychedelic traditional attire (with emblazons of red/gold/green)--are what I would call "member of the traditional class", who are closely aligned with authority figures in the rural areas. Most of these authority figures are usually chiefs in the villages, as they are the ones that citizens wanting to buy land go to seek permission from, etc, and are often turned to for the resolution of conflicts.

Modern Ghana (identified by an increasing youthful middle class) are apathetic to these kind of figures, but in the village, they are seen more than often as paragons of virtue, and icons of deference.

As you can see from these pictures, they enjoy food, too! After all, they are not gods!!




labels: ghana chiefs, ghana chieftancy

(Ghanaian) Food for Thought on Flushing!

What can I say?

I hope you have recovered from the Easter break, and are ready to observe some basic tenets of, erm, flushing in a public place!:-)



labels: ghana toilet, accra mall

Ghana Gets New 2GHC note...as Easter approaches

In 2007, Ghana had a redenomination of its currency the cedi, which has now become known as the "Ghanaian cedi". It was broken down into 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 GHC. At the time, the 1 US$ was equivalent to 0.92 GHC.

Today, 1 US$ is equivalent to 1.45 GHC, so technically speaking the 2GHC will be equivalent to 1.37 US$

I picked the picture from http://news.myjoyonline.com/business/201004/44192.asp. Once I get a copy of my own 2 GHC, I will definitely feature it here.

April sees the 4th celebration of Accra Daily Photo. When the appropriate date comes, I shall be popping the champagne!

Have a great Easter, and keep it safe!




labels: ghana currency, ghana cedi, new 2ghc

Signs of the Ever-Elusive Ghanaian Harmattan...

...have found expression on cars, with little particles--some might say granules--of white that looks like sand.

For two days now, however, cars are not experiencing these foreign layers of dust on  them; they seem to be back to being exposed to the vagaries of the Ghanaian weather!

Truth be told, I was "loving" my harmattan. I just love the fact that it's like a Ghanaian winter.

Pooh:-(

If you've forgotten what harmattan 2009 looked like, check here: http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/search/label/harmattan

"Let Who is Smart, Sort it out!", or a Tale of Where Ghana Needs to Go in Waste Disposal!

Back in Belgium, you would often see many of these waste-disposal trucks on particular days, reminding you to do the so-called "triage", or sorting out. If you are seeing this here, it is because I took the picture right here in Ghana!

It naturally has to be one of those many second-hand vehicles that are imported into the country.

Whatever the case may be, the issue is clear: Ghana would seriously benefit from such a waste-disposal policy. While you are reading more of how Belgium does it here: http://www.belgium.be/en/environment/sorting_and_recycling_household_waste/index.jsp, allow me to explain very briefly what it is. It's about sorting out METALS / PLASTICS / DRINKS,  etc all separately.

Plastics/drink/cartons were often picked up in a turquoise bag on Tuesdays; whereas regular garbage bags (in brown bags) were picked up twice a week. Everything else--like grass from the lawn, etc--had to be taken to a special waste disposal site. which was open to the public almost every day. If you forgot to take your garbage out, you could take it to one of these sites and dump it in appropriate areas.

I believe the title of this entry speaks volumes: "Let Who is Smart, Sort it out!". Wake up, Accra Metropolitan Assembly, and Environmental Protection Agency!






labels: ama. epa, ghana environment; waste disposal