Photo Exhibition At Goethe Institut

Accra, the capital city of the Republic of Ghana, is noted for it's sleepless nights. Majority of its thriving nocturnal market is kept active by "Night Traders."

History has it that Accra city trading started in the 1920s. According to the Executive Director of CENCONSAD, Professor Amoba James Ammorbah Sarpei, traders coming in from rural Ghana arrived in the city, Ga Mashie and Salaga (James Town) very late. Most of these travelers being petty traders slept in the streets, to safe guard their commodities. There were no lodgers then in James Town.

The second account recorded in the history of night trading was the European Commercial trade, the establishment of the seaport and the railway system in Ghana. These industrial activities needed manual laborers. The bachelor migrant labourers from Liberia, Nigeria and the local northerners fulfilled this requirement. These labourers worked deep into the night, offering the local traders an opportunity to exchange eatables at the port.

A further dispersion of the night trade came after the period of about four decades, when heavy industrial communities like Tema, were developed. The opening of the bigger port in Tema expanded and established a firmer grip on the night exchanges. New communities of night traders sprung out with places such as Osu Blohum, Otu Blohum, Lagos town, Kaneshie, etc. Baba Abdullah, a night trader says, "Accra is becoming like Mexico City. The city's population is on the rapid increase. That is a smarter challenge too for we can earn some income to solve family problems."

"Night trading is offering job opportunities for younger people in cities around the country. In some cases, the whole family is involved in the business operation. Interestingly, night trading works without gender barriers. Both sexes are engaged in basic works for their own survival approaches. The challenges are on the rise especially with the youth."