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by Phillip Stephenson, MBA '09
The Mokola Market was probably the least touristy adventure of our entire trip. This was the Walmart of the average Ghanaian, where you go to get what you need no matter what it is you need. The Mokola Market is a massive maze of an outdoor market in downtown Accra. It is absolutely packed with Ghanaians buying and selling food, household goods, clothing, jewelry, and everything in between. Entering the Mokola Market from a major downtown Accra street was entering a hidden maze. After making one turn in the maze suddenly there was no sign of Accra, just booths all around you overloaded with products of all kinds and vendors hawking their wares and haggling with shoppers. The only way out once inside is to pick a direction and keep moving in that direction until you eventually pop out again into busy downtown Accra. In these narrow pathways you are constantly moving and ducking as Ghanaian women pass carrying giant pots on their heads full of their purchases for a day. Occasionally, someone would walk by with a large chair or table on their head that I’m not sure I could carry at all much less on my head.
The Mokola Market was nothing short of a sensory overload, my head was moving back and forth to take it all in and trying to ascertain the source of the mix of smells that were coming to my nose. The garments and clothing were bright and varied contrasting with the dark seafood and meats. Most household goods were colorful as well and made of plastic. The foods on display included meat, seafood, produce, and grains of all kinds. I especially remember marveling at buckets full of giant snails (as big as I’d ever seen anyway) and slabs of seafood that I could identify as such only from the smell, which the vendors were continually squeezing wet rags over to keep moist and fresh. This was the city life of Accra, and my hour there was the most overwhelming and authentic I experienced in Ghana.
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