Agbogbloshie, E-waste

Agbogbloshie market is surprisingly closer to the center of Accra than I thought. It is only a few hundred meters away from ever-expanding Makola Market, which is in the very center of Accra.

With the smokes and flames, and thick toxic air filled with fumes from burning tires, electric wires and computer cases, the area is also densely populated. It is crowded even on a national holiday mid-morning. The market vendors, most are selling tomatoes, yams from the Northern part of the country and plantains, market goers and many scrabble metal collectors and workers that burn the e-waste to get them.

On this day, I talked to a boy named Maxwell, who claimed he is 15 years old. Coming from Bolgatanga, the center of Upper East region close to Bukina Faso border, Maxwell is the most vocal and thus the de-facto leader of seven boys from the same village.

A typical day for the boys start from 8 am and go to 4pm, most of them work six days a week. Some work every day. The burning process takes place in the morning, and then in the afternoon, they will sort out the metals and pieces, the most valuable is copper, which is sought after by vendors talking to the boys where I was there.

Maxwell has stopped going to school since last year, so are the other boys. He earned 10 cedis ($8) a day, sometime less. He sends most of them to parents to support siblings at home.

To these boys, the most exciting thing is to go home to visits families. Maxwell said he will be hitting home on 26th.

"But I will come back."

Ghana Reaches Out To Bosai's Hometwon For Investment

If you are not a news junkie, Bosai may not be sounding familiar. However, as the historical loan agreement signed between China and Ghana, the Chinese company is getting more attention. Its name was mentioned by the Ghanaian Minster of Industry and Trade, Ms. Hanna Tetteh in her speech to the Parliament of Ghana in explaining the loan agreeement.

Bosai is the largest stakeholder, owns 80% of Ghana Bauxite Co.

Out of the largest loan agreement for Ghana, $3 billion will be developed as a joint venture by Bosai, Government of Ghana and China African Development Fund.

Now, Ghana government is also reaching to Bosai's backyard. The Chongqing based company brought the attention back to the largest Chinese city, created by combining several megacities.

According to Chinese media report, a delegation from Accra visited Chongqing looking for investment in Coco processing and Chololate making, (not that Chinese are known for), but also in hotels, agriculture, ICT, infrastrcture.

People in Chongqing is known for eatting spaces, Sichuan cuisine also enjoys popularity here in Accra. Maybe more Bosais will be emerging?

Where will the $10 billion go?

The recent loan agreement between China and Ghana has generated a lot of interests. The focus, obviously, is on the sheer size, but more importantly, where will the money spent on?

Due to a nature of combination of giant loans and smaller ones, the money maize is not evidently easy to crack. Here is my initial research:

The largest part is $5.9 billion committed by China Export-Import Bank. The money will fund around 19 projects identified between Ghana and China. They include health, agriculture, railway, roads and education sectors. Ghana has the right to propose alternative projects.

$3 billion will be from China Development Bank, which agreed to fund gas commercialization in the Western Ghana Region, including a gas processing plant in Bonyere, to utilize gas discovered at Jubilee and Sankofa oil fields.

At least $262 million will be used for water and sanitation. They include $250 million to support on-gong rehabilitation of Kpong Water Works and $12 million for building boreholes for rural communities and a modern sports complex and Kotokraba Market in Cape Coast.

Additional $20 million interest free loan will be used to construct fish landing sites in coast areas in the Central Region. The Ministry of Industry and Trade Tetteh said the loan comes with 2 percent interest rate and repayable over 20 years.