Happy House Hunting in Accra

In an attempt to negotiate a longer term stay in Ghana, we have started to look for the kind of home that will sustain our family in Accra. Our number one priority was to leave the daily dose of Spintex traffic behind us as it consumes roughly two to three extra hours of our day and makes it (literally!) impossible to return home at any point during the weekday. We would be perfectly happy to live in the Regimanuel Estates (the really nice suburban, gated neighbourhoods that we sometimes sneak into with our children to use their playground and imagine we live in another city) were it not for the in surmountable obstacle that is Spintex traffic. Before I continue, I should warn that if you thought rents were bad in Vancouver, Toronto, New York or London, then you should sit down.

You should know that while you could probably get still get yourself a one room tin house or shared 250 square foot flat for in and around the 100 Ghana cedi range, we are currently looking for a modest four bedroom unfurnished home in the $2000 (U.S. dollars!) per month range. This will not place us in the best neighbourhood (though we’re near it) and this will not include a pool or the security of a gated community (though Accra is generally very safe and secure). For houses in the right area, rent would start at about $3500 per month and all require one year’s rent up front. For this price, I will neither be guaranteed reliable running water, nor consistent electricity, but I will be guaranteed that everything in my house will be falling apart and the landlord will have relocated to an unnamed and unreachable location. It is quite possible to pay upwards of $7000 dollars a month for some of the most undesirable property in the world. Labour is inexpensive, but you hire very specific people to do very specific jobs, so the average large home will employ a gardener, a housekeeper or two, a cook, a security guard, a pool cleaner and a driver. Even at the low end of the pay scale, this will add up to about another $1000 dollars in labour costs and upkeep (yes, that is how poorly people are paid for a sixty hour work week in this country). I know you will argue (my blog photos serving as a kind of evidence) that the beaches are extraordinary, but all of the best stretches of sand, saltwater and sun are outside of the city and you must first escape Accra to get to them!

Why, you ask? Simply put, the market will bear it because Africa is poised to become every capitalist’s dream come true: an untapped consumer population that rivals North America in population and potential. I think that in some ways Barack Obama's presence in the White House has reinforced the adoption of the "American Dream" as the "African Dream" whereby the cars, the houses, a (very) select few bank accounts and the appetites just keep getting bigger (of course Canada is not to be left out--we have an environmental footprint that rivals all). Add to the mix the wealth of precious materials that lurk in the ground beneath continent, and it’s ivory all over again. This time, rather than overlooking the rights and lives of the proud and vulnerable indigenous people of a continent, the lessons and impact of hyper-consumerism run rampant have been filed under “incidental” so that this market can be afforded its God-given right to spend and have. Sure, a few Africans will get rich, but corporations will get richer and the planet will get laid to waste. No doubt, we need to think smaller, not bigger...