Frontier: Exploring the Top Ten Emerging Markets of Tomorrow

Chapter 10Ghana

I – Goatanomics

Because goats don't cross the road in America.

Kwesi Essel BlanksonBarack Obama's Tour GuideCape Coast Castle

Accra from the air is a patchwork gray-brown sprawl of tin-roof and timber shacks stretching endlessly from the deep blue of the Atlantic. Dotted between are bright flecks of yellow, red, green and blue. These are more upscale dwellings: converted shipping crates.

Cutting a vertical path upwards from the coast is Oxford Street. The focal point is Frankie's, one of the first concrete high-rises here at four stories. It serves burgers and fast food (in relative terms – nothing in Accra happens fast). Hanging outside are teenagers from New York University. Unlike in Nigeria or Kenya, foreigners can be in the street without much risk of hassle beyond a constant tooting of taxis vying for a fare. As a result, Accra has become a mecca for student programs and NGOs.

Politically this is as harmonious as it gets in Africa. Since Jerry Rawlings ended military rule by standing for election in 1992, Ghana has alternated peacefully between his National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party. While NPP leader Nana Akufo-Addo challenged the 2012 election count, he then accepted the Supreme Court verdict ratifying the result and congratulated President John Dramani Mahama.¹

Down a side street past Shoprite – the South African supermarket spreading ...