Accra ( ə-KRAH) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, 20.4 km2 (7.9 sq mi), had a population of 284,124, and the larger Greater Accra Region, 3,245 km2 (1,253 sq mi), had a population of 5.46 million. The name "Accra" sometimes refers to the territory of the Accra Metropolitan District as it existed before 2008, when it covered 199.4 km2 (77.0 sq mi). This territory has since been split into 13 local government districts: 12 independent municipal districts (total area: 179.0 km2) and the reduced Accra Metropolitan District (20.4 km2), which is the only district within the capital to be granted city status. This territory of 199.4 km2 contained 1,782,150 inhabitants at the 2021 census, and serves as the capital of Ghana, while the district under the jurisdiction of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly proper (20.4 km2) is distinguished from the rest of the capital as the "City of Accra".
Formed from the merger of separate settlements around British Fort James, Dutch Fort Crêvecoeur (Ussher Fort), and Danish Fort Christiansborg as Jamestown, Usshertown, and Christiansborg, respectively, Accra served as the capital of the British Gold Coast between 1877 and 1957 and has since transitioned into a more modern metropolis. The capital's architecture reflects this history, ranging from 19th-century colonial architecture to modern skyscrapers and apartment blocks.
Accra is the Greater Accra Region's economic and administrative hub, and serves as the anchor of the larger Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), which is inhabited by about 4 million people, making it the thirteenth-largest metropolitan area in Africa. In 2020, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network think tank designated Accra as a "Gamma −" level global city, indicating a growing level of international influence and connectedness.
Etymology
The word Accra is derived from the Akan word Nkran meaning "ants", a reference to anthills seen in the countryside around Accra. The name specifically refers to soldier ants, and was applied to the town and people by the Twi speakers.
The name of Accra in the local Ga language is Ga or Gaga, the same name as that of the Ga people and a cognate with Nkran. The word is sometimes rendered with the nasalised vowels as Gã or Gãgã. Historian Carl Christian Reindorf confirmed this etymology, proposing a link between the martial qualities and migratory behaviour of the local ants and those of the Ga people. The link between the ethnonym and ants was explicitly reflected in the recognition of anthills as sacred places. Sometimes ringed by sacred fences (aklabatsa), the tall red mounds dotting Accra's hinterland were seen as microcosms of human community and as nodal points between the known world and the world of the dead.
The Gas used the reference to the invasive species of dark-red swarming ants to connote the military prowess of the Gas and their ancient conquest of Guang speakers residing in the Accra Plains.
The name Ga is a cognate of the name Akan, one of the words in which [g] corresponds to [k] in Akan. Ga also gave its name to the Ga districts surrounding Accra.
The spelling Accra was given to Nkran by Europeans. An earlier spelling used by the Danes was Akra.
History
Accra Kingdom
By the 15th century, the kingdom of Accra ruled the area from the capital at Ayawaso.
Initially, Accra was not the most prominent trading centre; the trading hubs were the ports at Ada and Prampram, along with the inland centres of Dodowa and Akuse. A Portuguese fort was destroyed by the local inhabitants in 1576; trade afterwards was conducted on the beaches. The Dutch later built the nearby Fort Crèvecœur while the British and the Swedes built James Fort and Christiansborg castles, respectively, in the 17th century.
By 1646 the kingdom was a regional power, bolstered by European trade. It depended on the goodwill of the rising Akwamu Kingdom, which controlled the trade routes in the interior. A dispute in 1646 escalated to war when Accra invaded Larteh. At the same time, Accra was weakened by a civil war.
Akwamu conquest of Greater Accra
In 1677 Akwamuhene Ansa Sasraku, using the circumcision of a visiting Akwamu prince as pretext, attacked Accra. He sacked Ayawaso and beheaded the king, Okai Koi. The king's son, Ofori, retreated to 'Small Accra', the town that had grown up under the walls of Fort Crèvecœur. Ansa Sasraku's attempts to finish off the Accrans were defeated by the guns of the Danish Fort Christianborg. Ofori and his people survived for years, until the Akwamu fomented a rebellion amongst the Danish garrison, and the fort was turned over to the Portuguese. Ansa Sasraku returned in 1681, burning Osu town and Small Accra and chasing Ofori to exile in Fetu. As Akwamu continued to expand, strips of land east and west were added to the Accra province.
British power increases
Britain gradually acquired the interests of all other countries beginning in 1851, when Denmark sold Christiansborg (which they had acquired from the Swedes) and their other forts to the British. The Netherlands was the last to sell out, in 1871. In 1873, after decades of tension between the British and Ashantis, the British captured Kumasi, destroying portions of the city. The British then captured Accra in 1874, and in 1877, at the end of the second Anglo-Asante War, Accra replaced Cape Coast as the capital of the British Gold Coast. This decision was made because Accra had a drier climate relative to Cape Coast. Until this time, the settlement of Accra was confined between Ussher Fort to the east and the Korle Lagoon to the west.
As the newly established Gold Coast's administrative functions were moved to Accra (1877), an influx of British colonial administrators and European settlers grew around the Christiansborg (what later is Osu, Ministries, Ridge, Labone, and Cantonments) began, and the city began to expand to accommodate the new residents. Victoriaborg was formed in the 19th century as an exclusively European residential neighbourhood, located to the east of the city limits of the time. The boundaries of Accra were further stretched in 1908, after a bubonic plague epidemic. This expansion entailed the creation of a native-only neighbourhood, intended to accommodate members of the native population as a means of relieving congestion problems in the overcrowded city centre. Adabraka was thus established to the north of the city.
By the 1920s, transportation between Accra and the inland cities producing exportable commodities was enhanced. This allowed cocoa to become Accra's largest export and allowed commerce to overtake government as the primary element in the city.
Among the achievements of Guggisberg was the building of a bridge across the Korle Lagoon in 1923, which increased settlement at Korle Bu, Korle Gonno and Chokor, to the west of the lagoon. Guggisberg also oversaw the building of a hospital (Korle-Bu) and secondary school (Achimota).
After World War II
In 1948, Ghana remained a colony of Great Britain following World War II. The chief of Osu Alata, Nii Kobina Bonney III, had set up a boycott of European goods across the country due to the rise of prices for essential commodities. At the same time, veterans of the war were fighting for their benefits and promised pay.
After Kwame Nkrumah became Ghana's first Prime Minister in 1957, he created his own plan for Accra's development. Nkrumah proposed creating spaces to inspire pride and nationalism in his people and people throughout Africa.
The Parliament, Supreme Court of Ghana, Black Star Square and the Bank of Ghana are located in Accra. The city is a transportation hub, home to Accra International Airport, and railway links to Tema, Sekondi-Takoradi and Kumasi. Accra has become a location for national and international business conferences, such as the BarCamp Ghana series, organised by GhanaThink Foundation.
Geography
As a coastal city, Accra is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and sea level rise, with population growth putting increasing pressure on the coastal areas. Drainage infrastructure is particularly at risk, which has implications for people's livelihoods, especially in informal settlements. Inadequate planning regulation and law enforcement, and perceived corruption in government processes, lack of communication across government departments and lack of concern or government co-ordination with respect to building codes are impediments to progressing the development of Accra's drainage infrastructure, according to the Climate & Development Knowledge Network.
Administration
The administration of Accra occurs at two levels. Strategic initiatives, such as the urban transportation project, are coordinated between district authorities.
Cityscape
Geographically, the areas west of Ring Road West, extending as far west as the saltponds and south of Graphic Road, are considered Accra West.
Demographics
The period between 1960 and 1970 saw more rapid industrialization and expansion in Accra's manufacturing and commercial sectors. This contributed to higher rural-urban migration to the city, and consequently a higher population growth rate.
56% of the population of Accra is under 24 years of age. 51% of the population are females, and the remaining 49% males. This gives a males-to-females ratio of 1:1.04. The greater number of females is a reflection of the nationwide trend, where the estimated ratio of males to females is 1:1.03.
Economy
In 2008, the World Bank estimated that Accra's economy constituted around US$3 billion of Ghana's total gross domestic product (GDP).
Accra is a centre for manufacturing, marketing, finance, insurance, and transportation. Its financial sector incorporates a central bank, nine commercial banks (with 81 branches), four development banks (with 19 branches), four merchant banks (with seven branches), three discount houses, one home finance mortgage bank, building societies, Ghana Stock Exchange, foreign exchange bureaus, finance houses, insurance companies, insurance brokerage firms, two savings and loans companies, and real estate developers, with industrial sites and residential developments. The road network in the Accra Metropolitan Area totals 1,117 kilometres (694 mi) in length.
There are over 50,506 identified residential properties in Accra, and about 4,054 commercial/industrial/mixed properties, with a total rateable value of GH¢13,849,014.
The sectors of Accra's economy consist of the primary, secondary (manufacturing, electricity, gas, water, construction) and tertiary sectors (supermarkets, shopping malls, hotel, restaurant, transportation, storage, communication, financial intermediation, real estate service, public administration, education, health and other social services). The tertiary service sector is the city's largest, employing about 531,670 people. The second-largest, the secondary sector, employs 22.34% of the labour force, or around 183,934 people. 12.2% of the city's workforce are reportedly unemployed, totalling around 114,198 people.
Education
Pre-school
Pre-school comprises nursery and kindergarten. In 2001, there were 7,923 children (3,893 girls and 4,030 boys) in pre-schools in Accra. In 2010, the enrolment rate at Pre-school was 98%.
Primary school
Primary school enrolment of girls is higher than that of boys. In 2010, the enrollment rate at primary school level was 95%.
Junior high school (JHS)
In the 2001/2002 academic year, 61,080 pupils had enrolled in Accra, representing 57.17% of the 129,467 school-age 12–to-14-year-olds. In 2010, the enrolment rate at Junior high school level was 95%. The ratio of girls is higher at this level.
Senior high school (SHS)
The transition rate between junior high and senior high school increased from 30% in 1990 to 50% in 2001. The number of students grew by 23,102 between 1990 and 2005, an increase of about 2,310 a year, since 2010 the senior high school enrolment rate has been 95%.
Ghana International School (GIS), a private non-profit A-Level school founded in 1955 for children from ages 3–18, is located in Accra's Cantonments. Abelemkpe is the home of Lincoln Community School, a private, non-profit International Baccalaureate (IB) school for students aged 3–18, established in 1968.
A number of public secondary schools lie on the outskirts of Accra: Achimota School, also referred to as "Motown", which was founded in 1924 and opened in 1927; the Accra Academy, known as "Accra Aca"; the Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School in Legon, also known as "Presec"; Wesley Grammar School – WESS-G Dansoman, St. Mary's Senior High School, also referred to as "Merriez", is a girls' boarding school in Ghana; St. Thomas Aquinas Senior High School, also known as "Quinas"; Accra High School also known as "Ahisco"; West Africa Secondary School, also known as "WASS"; the Accra Girls' Senior High School, also known as "Agiss"; Kaneshie Secondary Technical School ("Kateco"); the Armed Forces Secondary Technical; and St. John's Grammar School; among others.
Universities
The University of Ghana is located 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of the city centre at Legon. A number of other public and private universities and tertiary institutions have since been founded in Accra, some of which are listed below.
Institutes
- French Institute of Ghana
Environment
Water
As a growing city, Accra has both a water supply and scarcity challenge. Water access uses a patchwork of different delivery processes.