Markets
Open-air markets are an integral part of society in Ghana. Some of them operate every day, others on a regular cycle. In the Akan areas a 7-day cycle is common; in others it may be anything from 3 to 8 days. In such systems a small number of villages host the vendors on different days in the cycle. Periodic markets are likely to have developed in response to the lower demand for goods in rural areas, and have the advantage to the sellers of focussing sales into shorter times, and to the buyers of reducing travelling.
From the 16th to the beginning of the 19th century almost 4 million Africans were sold into slavery in Brazil. After the abolition of the slave trade, Brazil freed foreign-born slaves in 1831, and a small percentage returned to their home countries with the help of the American Colonization Society. This included a small number of Hausa muslims who returned to Accra at a time when three European powers were in occupation - the British (James Fort), the Danes (Christiansborg Castle), and the Dutch (Fort Crèvecoeur). The community, numbering a few hundred in 1836, came to be known as the 'Tabom', because of their frequent use of the Portuguese expression 'ta bom' meaning 'okay' in response to questions they did not understand on arrival. The area where they settled, on land ceded to them by Ga elders in the Otublohum quarter, became known as 'the land of Brazil'. Early in the 20th century the British began to develop this area, and a nearby suburb was used to alleviate the density of the population. It was called Adabraka.
There are various explanations for the name. In Hausa, the word 'barka' means 'blessing' or 'good fortune'. It has been suggested that it comes from the use of the phrase "adabaraka" ("give me a little something") by Hausa beggars in the area, or that it was simply the personal name of a Tabom domestic servant who lived in the area. But S.A.Ntewusu has argued that "a Fulani Muslim cleric and scholar called Mallam Abdul-Mumin had established an Islamic school in Zongo Lane called Ala’baraka, which means ‘Allah’s Blessing’. Since his school was also in the congested neighbourhood, he had to relocate with his Muslim colleagues and his pupils to Tudu in 1908 when they were asked to do so." The present-day market is notable for beads, cloth and crafts.
Sources:
Alcione Meira Amos e Ebenezer Ayesu "Sou Brasileiro: Historia dos Tabom, Afro-Brasileiros em Acra, Gana", Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brasil, 2005, Afro-Ásia, número 033
Ntewusu, SA, "Settling in and holding on. A socio-economic history of northern traders and transporters in Accra’s Tudu: 1908-2008", Leiden Uni., 2011
The name 'Kaneshie' means 'under the lamp' in Ga, referring to its beginnings as a night market. In 1972, the Government of Ghana charged the National Investment Bank and some financial institutions to finance the construction of a modern planned Market with essential facilities to replace the existing sprawling single-storey buildings.
The three other shareholders were Ghana Commercial Bank, State Insurance Company Ltd. and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly. The Kaneshie Market Complex was commissioned in 1979 and comprises three floors with 1269 stalls on the ground floor, 534 on the first floor, and 696 on the second floor.
Sources:
Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu, "Korle meets the sea: a sociolinguistic history of Accra", OUP, 1997
Modern Ghana, 28 September 2002
Photo: Accra Markets Limited
The 1962 & 1967 Survey of Ghana maps show only Oduponkpehe at Bawjiase Junction, half way along the road from Accra to Winneba, but it is the site of a very old market founded by northern yam-sellers, whose lingua franca was Hausa, in which language 'Kasuwa' means simply 'market'. Originally a market for food, it now carries a wide range of goods, and many traders have moved from Bawjiase to take advantage of the custom afforded by traffic using the main coastal road. The expansion of the market has exacerbated congestion problems for such traffic, and a new market was built on the Bawjiase road, opening on 15 Feb 2005. However, despite the fact that the old market was demolished, many traders have returned to the old 'Zongo' site, arguing that commercial vehicles stop there, so people do not want to make the extra journey to the new site.
Sources:
Gina Porter & Frank Owusu Acheampong, "Gazetteer of Markets & Roads in Gomoa District"
According to the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly "the Kejetia market is the largest single market in West Africa with over 10,000 stores and stalls", occupying an area about the size of a football stadium. The meaning of the name is footnoted in the source to mean "in the Akan language junction or intersection of main routes", but the etymology remains to be explained.
Source: E.K.A.Tamakloe, J.D.N.Riverson, & J.N.Okyere, "Traffic Planning of Kejetia", Transportation 4 (1975) 3-18, Elsevier
The emblem of Cape Coast is the crab, seen here on the Metropolitan Assembly logo. The abundance of crabs in the bay and among the rocky outcrops provided early settlers with a reliable source of revenue. The name of the market is clearly based on the Akan word 'akoto' meaning 'crabs', but there are differing accounts for the second half of the name. On the Ghana Districts website it is stated on the background history page that people "named the spot ‘Kotoworaba’ (crab hamlet), now adulterated to ‘Kotokuraba’", but on the Oguaa Fetu Afahye page it states that "having regard to the nature of the 'Kotowuraba' or crab stream, 'Nana Kotowuraba' became one of the earliest gods of Oguaa, which were reputed to care for the well being of the people." The name 'crab hamlet' seems the more likely, but it is not then obvious why it would have started as 'kotoworaba', corrupting to 'kotokuraba', since the Akan word for hamlet is 'akurowa' (diminutive of 'kurow', 'town'), which in the Fante dialect is 'akroba' (Christaller).
On the assumption that 'makola' is a Ga phrase, attempts have been made to make a direct translation, which yield such meanings as 'to pick up a burning coal', 'to set up fire for cooking' and 'to fetch fire'. The most convincing of these explanations seems to be that given by Victoria Okoye, who has it from a local security guard that "Makola (or, more appropriately “makolai” in Ga), means “firewood” — so when women on their way to this area were asked where they were going, they’d respond 'makolai' or 'where the firewood is'". A rather different origin is given by GhanaWeb columnist Calus Von Brazi, who reported a piece of research undertaken by the former Minister Kwamena Bartels while at the University of Ife in Nigeria. Bartels explained that 'makola' was a Yoruba expression which meant 'lucky child', and referred to the practice of parents who sent a child to start selling in the market in order to bring good luck. Thus, the original form of the expression may well have been 'Ọmọ ko ọla wọle', meaning 'The child brings wealth home'. In the early part of the 20th century a successful Nigerian businessman, S.O.Akiwumi, acquired the whole of the land on which the market now stands. When the market was built under the direction of Percy Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke, who was posted to the Gold Coast in the Colonial Medical Service in 1919, it was officially called Selwyn Market, but it is now always known as Akiwumi's lucky child, 'Makola'.
Sources:
GhanaWeb, "Controversy Unlimited: The Nigerian 'Re-invasion' Of Ghana", 13 September 2009
British Medical Journal, "The hard boiled saint: Selwyn-Clarke in Hong Kong", vol.311, 19 August 1995, p.495
Victoria Okoye, "Buildings, History, Land Use: Exploring Historic Accra", in African Urbanism, 6 Jan 2011
Yoruba translation: Abiodun Fakokunde, private communication
The modern town of Takoradi was built to serve the harbour, built in 1928. In contrast to many towns which have evolved it was therefore carefully designed, and included a market for the benefit of the growing port community. The prosaically-named Market Circle was purpose-built for ease of access, having 4 major and two minor roads symmetrically placed around the perimeter.
