If Ebay and Amazon were to be physical locations then Makola Market in Accra would come close to what these online portals provide. Makola is a renowned market place and shopping district in the centre of Accra.
Unlike typical markets that you may be used to where there is a street an area and some order. Makola market is an experience there is no front door or welcoming sign as you venture into the district before you know it you are swamped in the throng of people, stalls, hawkers and the vibrancy begins.
In adjectives all we can say is its Hot, noisy and insistent, its an initially bewildering sprawl of kitchenware, jewelry, textiles, shoes and anything your cedi might be able to buy.
Dominated by women traders selling fresh produce, manufactured and imported foods, clothes, shoes, tools, medicines, and pots and pans. and Jewelry made from locally handcrafted beads it could be said that Makola has something for everybody.
History of Makola Market
Makola Market was constructed in Accra in 1924 and stood at the heart of the urban Ghanaian life. The market was the main wholesale and retail marketplace in Accra, the epicenter of trade in the country and one of the nation’s most important social and cultural institutions.
On the 18th of August 1979, 55 years after its creation, Makola Market was destroyed. The Rawlings‘s government that agreed on the demolition of the centre of trade in Ghana thought that devastating Makola would improve the economy. Indeed, there were accusations that various products considered banned in Ghana were being sold in the Makola Market. In this way, the market women were accused of Ghana’s economic problems.
