Recently, markets have been in the news, namely the intention of the Government to build new ones, usually described as “modern”, “model” or “ultramodern”.
Excerpts from some of the news reports:
(a) “The President, John Dramani Mahama, has announced that five new modern market centres will be built in key districts of the Bono Region. He made the promise during his ‘Thank You’ tour in Sunyani on Friday, May 30, 2025.” (gbcghanaonline.com).
(b) In a statement to Parliament on June 3, on the payments to statutory funds, Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson (MP, Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam) announced that … “25% of the amount transferred to the District Assemblies is to be utilised for the design and cconstruction of 24-Hour Economy Model Markets ….”
(c) “The Government has promised the chiefs and people of Winneba a 24-hour service ultramodern gated market …Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, made the promise …at the grand durbar of the 2025 Aboakyer Festival” (Ghana News Agency, May 3, 2025).
Adding the description “model” and even “ultramodern” to the word ‘market’, raises a number of issues: what is actually meant by those adjectives? And, are the needs and convenience of the market traders and the market patrons – usually women – what the politicians have in mind?
These questions led me down memory lane, to an article I wrote a decade ago, published elsewhere, and an abridged version follows.
The 2015 Article:
From time immemorial, markets have had a special place in our communities and everywhere their design has basically been the same: An open-air facility that lets in sunlight and fresh air.
Yet, currently, apparently in the name of ‘modernity’, local assemblies seem to be obsessed with doing away with the traditional style. When the opportunity presents itself for a new market, they appear determined to replace what we know with designs of questionable practicality.
These days, every time one reads about a new market, the promise is that it’s going to be “ultramodern”. Regardless of the location, there seems to be a one-size-fits-all approach; they are all to be ‘ultramodern’, as the following excerpts from some dailies of December 22, 2014, show:
“The Kotokuraba Market in Cape Coast has finally been demolished to pave the way for the construction of an ultramodern market in the area” (Ghanaian Times).
“An ultramodern market earmarked to primarily sell farm produce is to be constructed at Mepom in the Upper West Akyem District early next year” (Daily Graphic).
Anyway, what exactly is meant by “ultramodern”?
When there is news about an “ultramodern” market, it appears that what is being proposed is a storeyed facility. But does a market qualify as ‘modern’ only if it is a storey building or covered premises?
Or is there, perhaps, some confusion with shopping malls, which are enclosed premises, now in vogue in Ghana?
However, the example of the Kaneshie Market, in Accra, should provide useful lessons and guidance for all local authorities as to what a market in Ghana should not be.
Built some 35 years ago, the Kaneshie Market was hailed as a pleasing innovation and it is still an impressive structure. Nevertheless, it is now very clear that its designers and the owners should have paid more attention to what a market is, notably in the Ghanaian context, a facility that makes use of natural lighting.
But who can blame them? “Dum-sor” and “adumdum-adumdum” (irregular power) were then not in the picture.
Today, the Kaneshie Market is a three-storey virtual oven, and its mostly covered top lets in little of the lovely, abundant sunlight Ghana is noted for. Also, the country’s present power crisis has underscored its greatest shortcoming. The lights have to be on all the time because it was planned to rely on electric power.
Even with the lights on, many of the stalls are dimly lit, so it can be imagined what happens during power outages. My information is that traders who can afford it use generators; others use lanterns, or manage in the dark until the electricity is restored, with all the security implications and inconveniences for both traders and customers.
Do we need covered markets when we do not need to keep out cold weather, as is necessary in some parts of the world?
Thankfully, the ground floor has been allocated to foodstuffs, vegetables, meat and fish sellers. But it is also bustling, hot, humid and enveloped in all the market smells, making a visit there not the pleasant experience one expects of a traditional Ghanaian market; not a place for lingering.
Little wonder that there are so many traders with makeshift stalls and vending tables outside the market building, doing good business too, probably to the annoyance of the traders inside.
And the stairs leading to the top floors are extremely steep, which clearly doesn’t encourage people to climb up.
Yet … there are also numerous services available there, including hairdressers, tailors and seamstresses. I wonder how patronage of their wares has been over the years.
It would be interesting to know the results if studies were conducted on the effects of this environment on the health and eyesight of the women who have been trading there for years.
Even in Europe, the most popular markets are open air ones. Two famous markets in London that come to mind are the Brixton and East Street markets in south London; open air, very long stretches of shops, stalls and vending tables.
Before commissioning the design, did the local authorities ask the market women what type of “modern” market would suit them? Market design continues to be decided by the people who normally have no business in markets: men!
It should be mandatory that before a new market is designed, the views of the local women especially, be sought.
Above all, even where a storey building is preferred, it should reflect our traditional market design and make use of the plentiful sunlight we are blessed with. (‘Lessons from the Kaneshie Market’, Thoughts of a Native Daughter column, The Mirror weekly, January 9, 2015.)
June 2025, at the Kaneshie Market
On Sunday afternoon, June 8, when I visited the Kaneshie Market, I wasn’t surprised that 10 years on, my experience there was no different: gloomy; fluorescent lights on inside, despite the glorious sunshine outside, making me wonder about the electricity bills.
Although the traders outside had told me that on Sundays the gates are all locked, so no access, fortunately, I found one entrance open. Indeed, inside, almost all the compartments had been locked up. Meanwhile, outside, every pavement space, left and right, was occupied by vending tables, brisk business going on, with vehicles moving through with difficulty.
Why lock up a major, or any, market on Sundays? Why can’t the trading be done inside on Sundays, too, just as on weekdays and Saturdays? Who is the Sunday closure meant to serve? Certainly, it can’t be for the benefit of the market women, or to give them a day of rest, because they were all selling outside last Sunday!
At the Dansoman Estate (‘Control’) Market
I then went to check up on the Dansoman Market, popularly known as the ‘Control Market’ – apparently so named because during the ‘Revolution’ era, the public was assured of things being sold there at ‘controlled’ prices
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Dansoman presented a totally different, pleasant picture: a normal, Ghanaian open-air market; no locked gates; trading going on as normal; traders and customers enjoying fresh air and plenty of sunshine too! In fact, so much sun that many stalls had some kind of sun protection.
And, most importantly, no need for lights in the daytime!
Yes, there are storied structures there, but these encircle the open-air trading space. Thus, the Dansoman Market combines the Ghanaian traditional open-air market design with the modern touch of encircling storey buildings for various commercial activities.
My Suggestions
I hope that when the government speaks about “modern”, or “ultramodern” market, it’s not the Kaneshie Market model they have in mind. I pray that they will consider the Dansoman Market design, which is actually what is seen in many other places in this country.
Furthermore, I pray that the authorities will consult the market women themselves before the planning begins!
Optimistically, the proposed new markets will be based on the traditional, ‘open-courtyard’ concept. Again, no more Kaneshie Market shopping mall type.
Please spare us from any such ‘ultramodernity’ markets!
