Ghana, the home of cocoa, has very little chocolate

There are few countries in Africa where one finds the most famous local produce or mineral readily available or affordable.

In South Africa, you don’t get to see gold easily. In Kenya, very few people can afford a cup of quality coffee; in fact coffee houses are exclusive and the consolation for most people is tea.

In Sierra Leone, famed for its high quality diamonds, most citizens only see the precious stone in pictures.

Ethiopia and Uganda are the few exceptions. In Ethiopia, home-roasted coffee is a way of life as is matoke (bananas) in Uganda.

It is therefore not a surprise that in Ghana’s capital Accra, a country known for cocoa, getting a cheaper and better quality chocolate is almost impossible.

There are more chocolates on supermarket shelves in Nairobi than there are in Accra.

Though a coastal city with a climate comparable to Mombasa, Accra can only be described as humble.

Starting from the small and unattractive Kotokoto Airport — the hustle and bustle associated with airport taxis in most African cities hardly exists.

Accra is far from a modern city, but it is orderly.

The public transport system is a mixture of old rickety vehicles — similar to the Fords that dominated Nairobi’s Industrial Area route in the 1970s - 80s — saloon taxis and modern buses used under the city’s Rapid Transport System.

But Ghana’s cedi currency is strong, exchanging at 1.4 to the US dollar. In Kenya, it goes for Sh56 at current rates.

In 2007, Ghana devalued its unit by 100, leading to a confusion that still lingers.

It is not strange to ask for a product’s price and be told it goes for 10,000 cedi, yet it costs 100.

Speaking of money, if one wants tidy returns from the money market, Ghana is the place to invest in now.

Interest rates for one month fixed deposits is nine per cent and goes up to 14 per cent for three month fixed deposit.

hana is receiving its first payment for oil this month, which is exciting the people and government.

Debate now revolves around the new wealth and how the proceeds will be put to use.

One of the suggestions is to channel the money into funding the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which is similar to Kenya’s National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).

The oil revenue is expected to hit Sh80 billion every year.

There are concerns that the US has warmed up to Ghana to get priority access to oil.

President Barack Obama has visited Ghana and the country receives funding under the Millennium Challenge Account, a US scheme to reward Third World countries that embrace democratic governance and the rule of law.

Ghana has formed the Millennium Development Authority, an agency that implements projects financed by the kitty.

Just like many countries in Africa, Ghana has recovered from a turbulent past dominated by coups between the 1960s to 80s.

Penalty headache

On a light note, Ghana is yet to recover from the World Cup penalty miss by famed striker Asamoah Gyan at the extravaganza in South Africa.

If he scored in the extra time penalty against Uruguay, Ghana would have been the first African country to reach the semis in the history of the tournament.

“On that day, people moaned across the country. The city was deserted for two days. You would think it was the days of the military coups when people stayed indoors,” said David Abugri, a retired government driver who now operates a car hire business in the city said.