Accra: Makola Market

Makola Market is one of Accra’s principal commercial districts. Its dense network of stalls, shops, and surrounding streets offers produce, dried fish, live snails, textiles, tools, household goods, cosmetics, bicycles, baskets, and many other products.

The original purpose-built market opened in 1924 and became a major center of wholesale and retail trade, with women traders playing a central role in its development. On 18 August 1979, Ghana’s Armed Forces Revolutionary Council demolished the market during a campaign against traders accused of hoarding, profiteering, and contributing to inflation. Makola later re-emerged as a commercial district and remains an important center of trade in Accra.