Accra has four parallel retail systems, and the difference in price between them for the same object is startling. Knowing which is for what is one of the faster ways to stop overpaying.
The four systems
Markets. Where most of Accra shops. Cheapest for produce, fabric, hardware, second-hand clothes and almost anything else. Requires bargaining and patience. — Accra markets
Melcom and the department stores. Ghanaian chain, everywhere, and the default for household goods, small appliances, plastics, school supplies and furniture. Fixed prices, no bargaining, and reliably cheaper than the malls.
Supermarkets. For groceries, especially imported ones. Convenient, air-conditioned, and several times the market price for anything grown in Ghana.
Malls. Accra Mall, West Hills, Achimota Retail Centre, Junction, Marina, A&C, Palace. Clothing chains, electronics, cinemas, food courts, and the highest prices in the city.
Groceries
For anything Ghanaian grows — tomatoes, onions, pepper, plantain, yam, cassava, garden eggs, fish — go to a market. The price difference against a supermarket is not a few percent; it is often a multiple.
For imported goods — cheese, cereal, wine, nappies, specific branded things — a supermarket. There is no cheaper option, and prices reflect duty, shipping and a thin market.
Well-known names include Palace, Maxmart, Marina Market, Koala and the supermarkets inside the malls. Stock varies week to week; if you find something you depend on, buy two.
Frozen fish and chicken are sold at cold stores, which are everywhere and much cheaper than supermarkets.
Household goods and appliances
Melcom first. It is the Ghanaian default for a reason: wide range, fixed prices, branches everywhere, and it undercuts the malls consistently.
China Mall for cheap homeware, plastics, tools, decorations and things you need in bulk. Quality is variable and priced accordingly.
Electrical and electronics cluster around Accra Central, Circle and Kantamanto. Cheaper than the malls, and you need to know what you are buying — check it works before you leave, and get a receipt with a warranty period written on it.
Furniture is largely made locally, and having it made is normal and often cheaper than buying it. — Furnishing a home in Accra
Clothes
Kantamanto is the enormous second-hand clothing market at Accra Central, and one of the largest in the world. It is where a very great deal of the Global North’s discarded clothing ends up, and where Accra dresses itself cheaply and often extremely well.
The trade has a serious environmental cost — a large share of what arrives is unsellable and ends up in landfill or on the beach — and it also supports tens of thousands of livelihoods. Both things are true.
Having clothes made is normal, affordable and better. Buy fabric at Makola or a specialist cloth shop, take it to a seamstress or tailor, and have something fitted. This is how most Ghanaians get their good clothes.
Malls and boutiques for branded and Ghanaian designer labels, at prices to match.
Paying
Mobile money is accepted almost everywhere, including by market traders. Cards work in supermarkets, malls and larger shops; assume they do not work anywhere else.
Carry small notes. A market trader cannot break a ₵200 note at 7am.
Bargaining
Expected in markets and with taxis. Not expected in supermarkets, Melcom, malls or anywhere with a printed price.
How it actually works:
- Greet first. Never open with the price. Ɛte sɛn?
- Ask the price, then pause.
- Counter low but not insultingly — roughly half is a normal starting point in a tourist-facing market, less aggressive elsewhere.
- Settle in the middle, cheerfully.
- Walking away is a legitimate move and often produces the real price.
- Buy several things from one trader and ask for a “dash” — a small extra thrown in. This is normal and expected.
Speaking any Twi at all materially changes the price you are quoted.
Online
Growing fast, and genuinely useful for electronics and anything heavy.