- a New Breeze is Blowing" (A GNA Feature by Hannah Asomaning)
Takoradi, June 11, GNA - Sekondi-Takoradi on Ghana's Western coast is brushing the dust off her dance shoes in readiness for the good times. The city has passed its prime and some even say it is a ghost town. But a promised oil boom means a new life is being blown into Ghana's only twin city.
I ride along for hours in a hot minibus from Accra. About a hundred kilometers before the Ivory Coast border, we arrive at the Western Region's capital city . decaying Sekondi and the newer Takoradi. The twin-city used to be one of Ghana's thriving commercial hubs in the past, until the railway system collapsed for a range of reasons. The lack of funds, bad management, lack of vision - the list is long. The tracks of the Region's lifeline that gave jobs to so many people are now rusted and overgrown with weeds.
When the trains were running, carting goods from the hinterland to the city for export, the harbour was bustling with activity. That was a long time ago. People dreamed big dreams.
Mary Essandoh, the Manageress of the Harbour View Hotel & Restaurant, looks ready to pick up on those dreams. She presides over the establishment with a quiet efficiency, joking with her staff and keeping a sharp eye on the cash. The hotel has been in a state of disrepair for some time now. "Now with the oil boom looming, Harbour View Hotel's biggest ambition is to be able to access some funds to quicken the pace of the renovations and make us ready for full operation," says Mary.
It is hard to share her confidence when I look at the half built walls. It is weekend and the place is packed by local standards. About 20 guests are relaxing on the open-air patio watching the boats in the harbour. A small group, still in their funeral attire, and a sundry collection of locals sip their Saturday drinks.
Between managing the waiters and smiling with patrons, Mary tells me the Hotel used to be just a shed where people came to sit and enjoy the view.
Then a local entrepreneur who saw how good the railway was for business, knocked down the shed and built the establishment. That was in the Swinging Sixties, when Ghana was newly independent and people came here to drink, dine and dance to high-life music the whole night. The hotel was a symbol of the new spirit in the town. But when the railway ground to a halt the ambitious plans for Harbour View slowly stalled.
"We are really bent on expanding the place but what is hindering us is money, we don't have enough money to do what we intend to do. We yearn to furnish the place nicely and get it ready before December," says Mary. The local population are expecting an influx of people when the Jubilee Oil Fields go into full operation later this year. Plans for the hotel are ambitious, as Mary hopes to build a bigger restaurant, a cocktail bar and even a children's park.
With a diploma in Hotel Management from the Takoradi Polytechnic, Mary Essandoh took over the management of the joint about a decade ago. Now with all the talk of oil money in town, she says things are finally beginning to look up.
Takoradi is a quiet town, but wherever I go people talk about the traffic problem. Interestingly, the residents attach great importance to the growing vehicle population in the town - a hint that the promises of progress are not empty.
Down the road, at a reasonably busy Market Circle, a small sign of things to come stops me in my tracks. A woman sits next to a stall packed with handbags. One of the bags spotting a gold Gucci label catches my eye. At 18 Ghana cedis (just over 12 US dollars) it can't possibly be the real thing but designer fakes are an offbeat sign that Takoradi has arrived. Madam Mary Ofori, who has lived all her 50-plus years in Sekondi-Takoradi, used to sell fruits to the commuters at the bustling railway station.
"In my early 20s, I sold oranges and mangoes as well as roasted groundnuts at the Kojo-Krom Railway Station. By 11.00 in the morning all my stuff had been bought and I had my cash. I made a lot of money, Sekondi-Takoradi was really vibrant then," she recalls. Since the railway stopped functioning she shuttles every day between her home in nearby Ketan and Takoradi to sell her bags here at the 'circle'. Like most people I met in the town, her conversation soon turns to the so-called traffic problem.
"Since the beginning of the year, there has been increased traffic, we see new cars in the city everyday and it seems that there are a lot of foreigners trooping in," she says.
Sekondi, the other half of the aging twin city, is a predominantly fishing community with a commercial harbour. Samuel Tetteh is the chief fisherman and has been landing his catch here for the past 40 years. Samuel is supervising a group of men mending fishing nets. He knows everything there is to know about these waters. The oil find is of marginal interest to him, unless it means his small fishing fleet can operate more cheaply.
"We have heard of the oil find and have been told not to go fishing around the area where the people are exploring for the oil," he says. For now the locals are abiding by the new rules. But Samuel and the other fishermen say they will have no problems crossing that boundary if it means they could net more fish. The prospects of black gold pumping out of the Jubilee Oil Fields mean little to these men. "If the oil find will help reduce the price of fuel in general in the country, then fishermen will be very happy. And if we pay less for fuel to eun our boats, we'll charge less for the fish," says Samuel Tetteh. In addition, to a tangible difference in their pockets, the men are hoping that any growth in Takoradi will mean an expanded harbour. "Presently, the harbour is very small and not able to accommodate all the fishermen here. Sometimes when the tide is very strong we have to pull all our boats on shore. This is a problem because we do not have enough space," says Samuel.
One of the organisations gearing itself for the oil boom is the Western Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber's Chairman, Ato Vaness, is the epitome of local success. He owns a business in the centre of town, drives a 4x4 vehicle and there is hardly a person here in town who does not know him. "Everything is changing. The changes are significant. Business is booming but not all people are seeing the difference," says Ato who also owns the downtown pharmacy. Everywhere in Takoradi there are indications that times are changing. Rents have gone up by 100 per cent in half a year. A single room that used to be rented for GHc15.00 a month in a private home has now risen to GHc30.00 a month.
District Assembly charges for businesses have increased. Many more banks are now opening branches in Takoradi. Some enterprising residents have converted their homes into shops and others have made their homes available to banks for rent.
Despite its prime position, the Harbour View hotel is facing stiff competition from new hotels being built all over town. Like Mary's establishment, others too are renovating their spaces in anticipation. Ato Vaness says the chamber is working with their members to help them to improve their efficiency and professionalism. One of the threats business people in Takoradi face is competition from outsiders with bigger budgets and better skills.
"The biggest challenge that businesses in the metropolis face is the lack of access to funds. We urge people to unite and share ideas while engaging in training that will enable them to improve their efficiency," he says.
Ato, however, does not think the promised oil boom is solely responsible for the rapid economic changes in the city. He says investors are looking for untapped markets in Africa and since Ghana has seen a number of peaceful political transitions, investors are encouraged. "Government must have a strong arm to deal with policies and set up policies that are realistic and achievable," he says.
A concern for many people is the future of Takoradi's young people. Ato says the area needs a youth entrepreneurship programme. This will help the local population to prepare for engagement in the oil business. "Government should establish an oil and gas fund to support businesses in the Western Region. Part of that fund should be given to the youth to set up vocational ad technical businesses that will work and support the oil industry.
"Government must pump more of the oil resources and revenue into the Western Region," he says.
While the citizens of towns like Takoradi have a clear idea of how they would like to benefit from the oil revenue, government's plans are not very lucid.
Ghana's Deputy Minister of Information, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, sits behind a highly polished desk in downtown Accra. Behind him hangs a framed portrait of the nation's President. A small radio is telling him the latest news.
"Government does not want to create the impression that the oil will be a panacea; we do not want Ghanaians to have unrealistically high expectations," he warns.
Mr Ablakwa admits that satellite industries like those in the tourism, manufacturing and construction sectors, will boom as a result of the oil. He assures the people of the Western Region, especially those in the Sekondi -Takoradi metropolis, they will not be left out. "Government is conscious of the Niger-Delta situation in Nigeria where locals feel left out of the oil booty and will ensure that those in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis benefit duly," he adds. Mr Ablakwa outlines government's plans to use the gas - an oil by product - to generate electricity. It's expected that this will lower Ghana's power costs.
With regards to managing the oil revenue, Mr Ablakwa says President Mills is proposing an independent authority to do this. He says, "We do not want to be affected by the Dutch Disease", a situation where a country's economy is built solely around oil and gas. He says that the government will continue to focus on improving agriculture, especially cocoa.
Ghana is expected to produce about 120,000 barrels of crude oil a day when production starts later this year. In Takoradi the patrons sit at the Harbour View Hotel watching the ships go by, just like in the old days. A group of young men hear talk of the Jubilee Oil Fields and one shout, "The oil people should employ us because we know how to swim. If they bring people from outside the region to work here, they may not know how to swim and may drown." Everyone around laughs and cheers loudly at boisterous Kwesi Essuman's joke.
Mary Essandoh smiles then turns her attention to the more serious matter of attending to her patrons. Business is slow today. But Kwesi might not be far from wrong. If the local people don't dip into this stream of wealth and expertise flowing into the town, everyone goes under and the ghost town status awaits Takoradi.
