Accra, Ghana! An African city!

Goodbye Siyabona, hello Accra, Ghana. Accra, the capital and a city with a population of 2 million sits right on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. While the Atlantic Ocean water temperature back on Long Island, New York may be freezing cold the water here is almost too hot to swim in. The city is in an interesting position, while in some areas it appears very developed and modernized according to western standards, there are a tremendous amount of areas in Accra that resemble parts of Nairobi, Kenya, Dar Es Saleem, Tanzania, and the townships in South Africa. While I would argue that Accra is about 12-13 years behind the much more developed South Africa, there are signs of progress. One example are the malls, ironically the shopping malls look like anything you would find in a major city in the west, yet, surrounding the malls are informal settlements or shops that do not fit into western standards but are very authentic and African. The streets are bustling with individuals trying to make a living, selling everything from t-shirts to CDs and DVDs. The historic sites such as the W.E.B. Dubois Centre, Independence square, national museums, and the various embassies while visually appealing would not meet western standards of how to best preserve a landmark; nonetheless these places hold particular value to the country and to the world. They symbolize and document part of the struggle for freedom. To further illustrate the Accra experience, the beachfront, which is of course a gem and a commodity in most developed places, here the various entities, businesses, and developers have not paid much attention to its potential and its competitive it could have over other cities. The Afia Beach Hotel where I am currently residing, sits on the beachfront, however, according to western standards one would not frequent this location because of the debris and brush that sits on the sand on the beach. Despite this, it’s still a beautiful beach with warm waters and some fun waves. So to sum up the Accra experience thus far, it’s an adventure. It’s something that we in the west might not understand but it’s Africa, it’s underdeveloped, its making progress slowly, it has great potential and it just need the right resources in place to guide its development.