Living on Spintex: rent, the Spintex Road traffic and life toward Tema

Spintex is less a neighbourhood than a road and everything built along it: Spintex Road, running east from near the Tetteh Quarshie interchange toward Sakumono and Tema, lined with estates, churches, shops, schools and warehouses.

It offers more house for the money than anywhere central, and it charges for that in hours.

At a glance

The district figures describe much wider areas than the road itself. Tema West Municipal counted 196,224 people in the 2021 census, and Ledzokuku Municipal 217,304.

What it is like

A long corridor of gated estates, compound houses, new apartment blocks and commercial premises, with side roads leading off into quieter residential areas. The further along you go, the newer and cheaper it tends to get, and the longer the drive back.

It is practical rather than charming: supermarkets, churches, schools, fuel stations and a great deal of traffic.

Rent and housing

Above the city median, and a clear step below the central districts. The reason to live here is what the rent buys:

• Detached and semi-detached houses in estates, often with space for a car and a garden
• New apartment blocks
• Chamber-and-halls and self-contained units in the side streets

Rent here is far more often quoted in cedis than in the diplomatic areas.

— Rent in Accra, every district ranked — The rent advance

Getting around

This is the section to read twice.

Spintex Road is famously congested. Much of the corridor funnels onto it, and at rush hour a short distance can take a very long time. The commute into Ridge or Airport City is the decision that matters, far more than the house.

• Test the journey at the hour you would make it, on a weekday, in both directions
• The Accra-Tema Motorway runs to the north and is the alternative for some journeys
• Working in Tema, Sakumono or along the road itself changes everything: the traffic mostly runs the other way
• Trotros run the length of the road; ride-hailing is available but slow at peak times

— Getting around Accra — The trotro, explained

Schools and healthcare

Schools. Many private schools along the corridor and in the estates, serving the families who moved here for space. Visit, and check the school run as carefully as the commute.

Hospitals. Private hospitals and clinics along the road, and the major public hospitals are in Tema and central Accra. Know which is nearest before you need it.

— Schools in Accra — Hospitals in Accra

Power, water and flooding

• Power is on prepaid ECG meters. Generators are common in estates; ask.
• Water varies a great deal between estates and streets. Many houses rely on a polytank and tanker deliveries. Ask neighbours how often the supply runs.
• Flooding is a real question in low-lying parts of the area, and the Sakumono Ramsar Site - a protected lagoon wetland - lies to the south. Look at the ground the house sits on, and ask about the rains.

— Electricity and dumsor — Water in Accra

Daily life

• Supermarkets and shopping centres along the road, and Accra Mall at its western end
• Churches, in large numbers
• Restaurants and spots for eating out, fewer than in East Legon or Osu
• Tema’s markets and harbour a short drive east

— Where to shop in Accra

Who it suits

It suits families who want space and a garden, people who work in Tema or along the corridor, and anyone who can work from home or travel outside rush hour.

It does not suit anyone with a fixed early start in central Accra and no way round the traffic. That commute, every day, is easy to underestimate from a viewing on a quiet afternoon.

— Living in East Legon

Before you sign

1. Drive the commute at rush hour, both ways, on a weekday
2. Check how far along the road the house really is, with its digital address
3. Look hard at the drainage, and ask about flooding
4. Ask about water supply and tanker costs
5. Get the advance and the period it covers in writing

— Where to live in Accra — Your digital address — Your tenancy agreement