Ghana at 50
I could have been Ghanaian if the French had not been so keen on "maintaining their area of influence" in West Africa, synonymous for pissing of the British really. In the end, Britain got gold, and cocoa, the French created us.
Was in Accra a few weeks ago. A 3 hours and a world apart from Lomé.
They have roundabouts which is in my eyes the epitomy of progress! Roundabouts and three lanes freeways and a rather positive story to tell 50 years after gaining independence.
Of course they have slums next to gated communities, cocoa and coffee farmers are not getting a fair wages. Although they are doing much better economically, there is poverty and inequalities in Ghana just like in Togo. But the one thing that makes Ghana different is the dynamism of its people: they get up and try while we sit and wait.
Accra was joyful and busy and it was a nice change from sleepy and depressed Lomé.
An anecdote: I met a in two separate occasions, two young white girls (British and Australian) straight out of university, and each time we got talking about Ghana. Each time the same conclusion about Accra: too busy, too developed, not like the real Africa enough.
You just got to love those white liberals coming to Africa ready to "save" us, expecting to see naked indigenous living in mud houses, and getting a real shock when they discover TV sets in people's houses. The myth of the pristine savage still lives strong. In the mean time, us in Togo are really looking forward to the day we'll have made out bit of Africa less "real" and a bit more developed.
Was in Accra a few weeks ago. A 3 hours and a world apart from Lomé.
They have roundabouts which is in my eyes the epitomy of progress! Roundabouts and three lanes freeways and a rather positive story to tell 50 years after gaining independence.
Of course they have slums next to gated communities, cocoa and coffee farmers are not getting a fair wages. Although they are doing much better economically, there is poverty and inequalities in Ghana just like in Togo. But the one thing that makes Ghana different is the dynamism of its people: they get up and try while we sit and wait.
Accra was joyful and busy and it was a nice change from sleepy and depressed Lomé.
An anecdote: I met a in two separate occasions, two young white girls (British and Australian) straight out of university, and each time we got talking about Ghana. Each time the same conclusion about Accra: too busy, too developed, not like the real Africa enough.
You just got to love those white liberals coming to Africa ready to "save" us, expecting to see naked indigenous living in mud houses, and getting a real shock when they discover TV sets in people's houses. The myth of the pristine savage still lives strong. In the mean time, us in Togo are really looking forward to the day we'll have made out bit of Africa less "real" and a bit more developed.
posted by Kékéli at 19:07
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