Challenges of shopping in Accra

There is a shop /supermarket here in Accra which irritates me so much that sometimes I could scream, and sometimes I have walked out in frustration!

Yet I still shop there because it has a reasonable selection of the items I usually buy, and good prices. I know what I want when I go there, and can fill my shopping cart in 20-30 minutes.

Then comes the palaver, as we say in this part of the world. If I have selected soaps and toiletries I have to make sure to keep them separate from the groceries, as there are separate checkouts. This doesn't work too badly when I go with someone else, but if I am alone, I have to finish paying for one set of items before putting myself in another queue.

So two separate queues, and that assumes that there are enough young women working at the checkouts. Then one has to have everything one has bought and paid for checked yet again before being packed in boxes or plastic bags!

But actually this shop has four payment points, because if you want to buy hair products there is another cashier, and if you want towels or bedding, then there is another place to pay. And then there are some items - right at the checkout - which the cashiers tell you are not on the system, and therefore there is no receipt! Aaargh...

Recently - actually the week before Christmas - I went to do some pretty large buying, only to find that there was something wrong with the power, and the cash registers/pcs were not on UPS's so every time the cashier started inputting the purchases, she lost the totals and had to start again. After this happened three times it was suggested that a manual receipt might be appropriate. But needless to say that advice/comment didn't get us anywhere, so I just abandoned everything and told them my piece of mind. And of course there was no senior person, or manager around... And in this busiest of shopping seasons, were there extra staff to help? Not likely. We the customers can wait... and wait... and wait...

After ranting and raving, I did wonder, isn't there any analysis of purchases over time, days, weeks, months? Surely the manager and/or owner knows what the peak periods are, and one would think that a manager or owner could adjust staffing accordingly?

Wouldn't it also make sense to put all the product information in one database, which is shared by all the pcs/cash registers - which are of course protected by UPS's?

Is it asking too much for cashiers to smile, and say "thank you" "please come again" and so on?

Or is it that the owner knows how she managed her smaller shop in Mokola or any of the other markets, and feels that she doesn't really need to change her processes, as no matter what, the money keeps rolling in?

And people like me contribute to the continuation of this lousy service, because even while we complain, we return, so what is the incentive to change?

"Flashing orange" traffic lights

Every morning when I go to work, I feel the tension mounting as I approach Abeka Junction. And I hope each time that the traffic lights at this major intersection will be switched from "flashing orange" or that there will be someone controlling traffic.

Alas, most days it's everyone for him or herself, with the trotros and taxi drivers honking their
horns at anyone who wishes to take a slightly more cautious approach to the junction. No doubt a few rude thoughts about the "abrewa obroni" driver will pass through their minds...

But it still doesn't help the stress.

Ghana and Young African Leaders Forum

interesting that there is very little commentary about the Young African Leaders Forum, or the people who are attending, at least that I have read, or heard about...   

It is somewhat ironic, that apart from a brief mention on Joy this morning, plus a brief news story about one of the participants  there just doesn't seem to be much hooplaa...  I am glad though that one of the Ghanaian bloggers in the diaspora chose to mention and comment about it .

Maybe we are too preoccupied with the STX deal?

Personally I do wonder how the Ghanaian young leaders were selected? And by whom?  Are they really and truly representatives of the emerging leaders who are coming out of Ghana?

No answers... only questions at this point

Ghanaian chocolate in short supply?

I am not a true chocaholic, but I do like chocolate, so almost every Saturday, usually towards the end of my shopping for household supplies and groceries, I usually try to treat myself, and those members of the household who are around to some chocolate.

Usually this is one of the varieties produced by the Ghana Cocoa Processing Company, and more often than not, there are a lot of bars of Kingsbite the milk chocolate in a red wrapper, since that seems to be the favourite of most.

Personally I like some of the other varieties - lemon, orange, groundnut, coffee, or the two darker ones, but those are mostly for me.

Or they used to be.  Now I am happy for anything I can get.

And lately I haven't been able to get any Ghanaian chocolate/  Plus I don't see much of it being sold on the streets by traders walking through the traffic stopped at intersections or lights or when there are police or traffic guards.

I think I heard that the Cocoa Processing Company factory was going to be closed or something like that for a while, but surely not for so long?

So in the meantime I have to make do with the imported varieites - and though I enjoy them, somehow they do taste different, and I yearn for that taste of the tropical forest processed locally!

Just a small shortage; nothing really significant.

But it does make me feel rather sad that I can't easily buy Ghanaian chocolate right now.

"Do you have change?"

One of the most frustrating aspects of engaging in any kind of monetary transaction in Ghana has to do with a disconnect between the amount you are charged as a customer, the amount of money you handover, and the change you expect to get - if you did not provide the exact amount in payment.  

It has always been the case that those selling on a table, or in a very small shop, might not have the exact change for you, but I often find that these are the very people who will ask you to wait while they go and make sure that you are given what is due to you.

Try a slightly bigger shop, or even a big supermarket, and I have several examples, and then the real palaver begins.  If you are lucky you will be asked "Do you have one cedi, and then I can give you five?"  At other times you will be told a price which is rounded up, so that the shop or the assistant will not be obliged to give  you some one Ghana pesewa coins which of course they do not have!  And sometimes you will just be told, "Sorry, no change" with the implication being that you just take whatever there is, and forget about the rest!   

On more than one occasion I have asked shop assistants whether they are not given "floats" at the beginning of the day, or even at regular intervals.   Responses can vary:  a blank stare is one, another is "it is finished", so the buyer is left annoyed and frustrated.

One of my responses, simply because I know the above is going to happen, whether at ShopRite, Game, Sarlinesta or whatever, is to be prepared!  So instead of always relying on the more convenient ATM machines, I try to find time to go physically to a bank, and ask for a packet of 100 one Ghana cedi notes.  Plus coins - in  50, 20, 10, 5 and 1 pesewa denominations. 

Well, usually I manage to get the one Ghana cedi notes - though on my last visit to my main branch of one of the older banks, I was told there were no "ones" and when I complained, I was told that the currency was given to them by the Bank of Ghana so I should just take whatever there was.

Another, older bank is usually OK for whatever notes you want, plus coins, and they even manage to stock one Ghana pesewas which are almost a rarity these days. And for a while one of the newer "Nigerian" banks would even provide me with a packet of brand new notes :-).

Not too surprisingly my purse/wallet seems to get heavier as I try to anticipate my needs for change during my work and shopping days!

But for shops and banks and the Bank of Ghana:  have any of you heard of customer needs and wants?

Another Ghana moment?

Another "Ghana moment" - or should I say "only in Africa"? as the slot on BBC Network Africa goes?

On a recent weekend I did one of my normal cooking gas runs, as two of the three cylinders we use for cooking were empty, and with the holidays approaching, it was better to be sure of stock, rather than waiting till the last minute.   And then having to spend a lot of time looking for it when supplies are limited!

With the two cylinders rolling around a bit in the boot - I hadn't put the stone which was to stop them rolling in properly - I set off for the place I usually hit first.  Thinking why didn't I phone first?   I guess I still operate in the "old" Ghana style that you have to go somewhere physically...  that really shows how long I have been working the system here!

Anyway I got to the supplier, only to find a hand-painted sign on the gate saying "NO GAS".  But unlike some other occasions when this was the case, the gate was open, so I decided to go in and ask if the people around had any ideas where I could get gas.  Rather than telling me straight out where I could try, or that they didn't know, the guys hanging around continued to chat, though one of them did go into the office.  There must have been a signal because the next thing I knew one of them was asking for my cylinders...

And when I asked how come they were selling to me, with the sign indicating no gas, the response was "for special customers only"...  Hmmm...  The price was surprisingly the correct one, but I do have to admit I couldn't resist giving a donation to the "Christmas box" as a way of saving me having to roam around looking for the cooking gas.

Definitely a Ghana moment, almost reminiscent of the bad old days of shortages and kalabule!

Tangerines au naturel

I really do wish that I could plan and take photos so that I would be more prepared when I write something, but unfortunately this doesn't happen most of the time. I suddenly realized that it is tangerine time again, and I couldn't resist buying some last weekend when I was doing my onion shopping at Agbogbloshie market. I just took one and peeled it, and ate it section by section, dropping pips all over the front of the car, though! [TG it gets cleaned on Sundays though!] I felt a little guilty about the smell, but then I was the only one in the car, so why should I worry? I did wonder whether I was taking a risk though from the market, but crossed my fingers that my luck would hold!

One day I will look into tangerines in more detail, because it has always struck me as odd that they only flourish for a very short period even in what should be the ideal climate? Here of course they are not always orange on the outside, though the inside ranges from the pale to the deeper orange. Some are sweet, most have a sour edge which is a slight shock, but then somehow the mouth adapts, especially as one eats the whole section.