My time in a Night Market in Accra

Where is the Lapaz Night Market?

The Lapaz Night Market is an interesting site to behold every night. The pedestrian walkway on the Lapaz stretch of the N1 Highway in Accra is turned into a market centre as the sun goes down. On normal days, pedestrians will be spotted moving in all directions, going about their various duties, child beggars and hawkers are not left out.

How the Night Market starts

The situation changes abruptly when the sun settles below the horizon, the Lapaz Night Market emerges. The night market begins usually after 6:00pm and lasts till after 10:00pm.

For some, the inadequate well-structured market centres in Lapaz and its neighbouring communities, coupled with the immense pressure and overcrowdings in the few available markets, is the reason for this growing menace. The need for a market centre has necessitated the conversion of the pedestrian walkway into a mini market.

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What you can find

Among stuff sold on the “walkway –market” include clothes, ladies’ bags, ornaments, shoes and fruits.

Hawkers hoard their wares adopting several interesting techniques to attract the attention of the passer-byers, from singing to ringing of bells, clapping hands and even “aggressive approach system” which is often employed by the clothe sellers.

One could just dump a nice dress on your shoulder as you walk by and tell you how cheap the prize is, and how ready he or she is for a considerable bargain.

Despite the interesting things that take place at the Lapaz night market, the situation poses a lot of threat and inconvenience to drivers, pedestrians and the customers of the night marketers.

Most pedestrians are forced to walk on the road instead of the walkway, some unlucky passer-byers who crush into arranged wares are forced to make payment for the wares especially if they are edible stuff, others runaway with hails of insults on their heads.

By: Edwin Abanga

Email: eabanga21@gmail.com

Facebook: Edwin Abanga