Accra

Accra, the capital of Ghana, is a friendly city of about three million people. Its architecture ranges from traditional African buildings to large, elegant colonial houses and modern high-rise blocks. Since the early 1990s, a number of new buildings have gone up, including the distinctive boat-shaped national theatre, partly funded by the Chinese. The main commercial and business district runs north from the coastal forts of James and Ussher, the site of the original settlement, although many government and administrative offices and embassies are to be found in other parts of town. Traditionally home to the Ga people, the city has a sizeable expatriate and established foreign community from the United States, Europe, Lebanon and India as well as more recent immigrants from Mali, Niger and Nigeria. Refugees from neighbouring Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast are confined to the crowded Budumburam camp in Central Region to the west of the capital. Accra is extremely humid and the city centre is congested with people and traffic but trees planted along the roads give it a green feel. Public transport consists of buses and trotros (minibuses); alternatively there are taxis, which are cheap (10,000 to 40,000 cedis maximum) and safe. Good rental accommodation is generally easy to find; advertisements are displayed along the roads (in this case there is usually an agent who takes 10-20 per cent commission) or in the Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times (properties advertised this way usually belong to corporations and no agents are involved). Prospective tenants should expect to pay 1-2 years rent upfront before receiving the keys. Text: Beatrice Amoah, abeboat@yahoo.com. Last updated Jan 2006.