Accra - The African Mirror

Jul

2021

Shito. A tale of far more than a spicy African sauce

PEARL AKANYA OFORI HER sauce has built a listed company and her tale is now lauded as one of the region's great export stories. But it took far more than the local popularity of a misnamed pepper, and ten dollars in savings, to bring this startup story to life. A life's determination, sacrifice and considerable entrepreneurial skills were required. Seated in her office in Tema, an industrial hub east of the Ghanaian capital, Accra, Leticia Osafo-Addo wears a big smile as she sifts through a pile of orders for both the local and export market. She is surrounded by awards…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana opposition supporters march

NEWS

CHRISTIAN AKORLIE HUNDREDS of opposition supporters have marched through the streets of Ghana's capital Accra, demonstrating against what they described as rising insecurity and lawlessness since President Nana Akufo-Addo came to power in 2017. Wearing mostly red or black, the youth wing of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) danced through the streets with signs such as "You tweeted for George Floyd... Ghanaians have died, speak up!". Accompanied by the honking of motorcycles and music blasting from pick-up trucks, the group delivered a petition to the offices of the president and the speaker of parliament. The marchers pointed to a string…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana’s “miracle” COVID-19 unit

COVID-19

PEARL AKANYA OFORI THE man behind Ghana's "COVID-19 miracle facility" reflects on what it took to build and how the effort showed that a sense of civic duty is alive and kicking across Africa, a year after Ghanaian civil society came together in unprecedented fashion to deliver the state of the art COVID-19 facility to the nation in record time Building a 100-bed hospital in 91 days may seem unrealistic, but faced with unprecedented healthcare challenges, "ordinary" Ghanaians not only built the country’s first Infectious Disease Isolation and Treatment Centre but did so in record time, a feat that makes…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

How Accra tackled complex challenges in an urban slum

ENVIRONMENT

JESSICA KRITZ, Assistant Professor--Research Track, Georgetown University WHEN I first heard about the community of Old Fadama in Accra, Ghana, I recognised something. A Ghanaian Catholic sister who visited the green market weekly in that neighbourhood told me about it. She worried about a community of vulnerable migrant women known as “head porters” or kayayei, who earned a pittance transporting heavy items balanced on their heads. Old Fadama reminded me of Appalachia, the part of the US where I grew up in the late 1970s. Nearly everyone in my county lived below the poverty line. We learned to work together…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Volkswagen opens vehicle assembly facility in Ghana

MOTORING

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER ONE of the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers - Volkswagen - has expanded its front in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the official opening of a vehicle assembly facility in Accra, Ghana. With this investment, Ghana has become the 5th Volkswagen vehicle assembly location in Sub-Saharan Africa; the other locations are in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda. The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo presided over the official opening of a facility that has created jobs in Ghana. Akufo-Addo witnessed the unveiling of the first vehicle assembled in Ghana. The country’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen,…