Original Travel date: October 2021 – December 2021

Preamble: Left Behind

This is a really bad movie. I only used this poster cos I missed my flight in October. Just seemed fitting.

Sorry, there’s nothing we can do for you now. But there’s another flight by 21.00 today. If you still want to get to Accra today, better hurry and book it before all the seats are taken

– Africa World Airlines Staff.

Looking back, my only regret is that I didn’t leave the house at 09.00. My flight to Accra was scheduled for 13.50 and I left my house at 12.00.

Rookie mistake!

In an ideal world, I’d get to the airport by 12.20, check-in and complete immigration requirements in time for my flight but Lagos defies logic and this was a strong lesson for me on my first international flight.

My Uber driver decided to disregard Google maps and went with his intuition since I told him I was going to the “Airport”. And by 12.32, I was at the local airport looking out of order. When I realised I was at the wrong place, the same driver chose to manoeuvre traffic and soon I was at the mercy of LASTMA for taking the wrong route.

I arrived at the airport at 12.51 PM and saw the staff of Africa World Airlines packing up to close up check-in for my flight.

What followed could easily be summed up within the 5 stages of grief.

• Denial – No, I can still check-in, it’s just one minute late. I have everything ready to go, I’m good.
• Anger – NO! THAT DUE PROCESS IS NONSENSE, THE AIRPLANE JUST EVEN GOT TO THE AIRPORT! HOW CAN YOU CLOSE CHECK-IN?
• Bargaining -Could you please check in with the airline? I have colleagues on board and they’re yet to board so I can check-in.
• Depression – What do you mean you’ve sent a list of passengers to Accra? Since when does that happen? (PS: This was my first ever flight outside Nigeria – how would I even know) What is this?
• Acceptance – I reached out for help and rescheduled my flight to later that day.

My flight was eventually rescheduled for 21.00 and I arrived Kotoka Int’l Airport at 21.00, 02/10/2021.

Arriving Ghana

Kotoka Int’l Airport.

Prior to travelling to Ghana, I’ve always heard how the air is lighter when you leave Lagos. Although I have travelled out of Lagos different times in the past, I have never noticed this difference. But it became evident as soon as I landed in Accra.

My friend, Jacob captures the way I felt when I landed perfectly;

At Ghana’s Kotoka International Airport, the air over your head feels familiar, like the one in Lagos, but it’s less dense as if chaos has been filtered away. We were cordially welcomed into the country by some neatly dressed airport staff who, unlike their colleagues in Lagos, didn’t seem interested in begging for ‘what we brought for them’ before being shepherded to our Covid-19 testing area.

I got to the airport late in the night and had to take an Airport taxi and that’s when I realized I was in for an interesting ride. The following conversation ensued;

• Cabbie: Where to?
• Dozie the JJC: 14 Akosombo Street!
• Cabbie: You get the maps?
• Dozie: No, I can’t use the map now cos I don’t have internet but I know it’s in Airport Residential.
• Cabbie: Okay, no problem it’s 80 Cedis. (Cabbie grabs my luggage Lagos style)
• Dozie: (Does a mental calculation to convert GHS > NGN) 80? I’ll pay 40 Cedis.
• Cabbie: *(Slightly disgusted and disappointed) paacho daabi herh, 40 Cedis? hopefully this means, Please no, 40 Cedis?

Anyway, this negotiation went on for a while till we settled at 45 Cedis, I got into the car and realised that the driver didn’t know how to get to my destination. Took the intervention of a passerby to get on the right track, I’d have probably ended up at Dzorwulu.

Akwaaba! Let’s get the show on the road! 💥

Money Talks: Ghana Edition

There are 3 main mobile money operators in the market, and MTN owns the largest market share. Another similarity between mobile money accounts in Ghana and bank accounts in Nigeria is the low barrier of entry. As of October 2021, you could walk into any authorised agent with a valid regulatory ID to set up your account. I hear you require something called a “Ghana Card” to set up MoMo now.

The newer stores and businesses have POS that can push payment prompts to MoMo accounts. That is, the payment starts on the POS and the MoMo user authorises the payment on their phone to complete the payment. 🤯

The Tech Scene: Building Bridges

The Ghanaian tech community operates differently from Lagos’s bustling ecosystem. The Paystack team had a casual tech meetup at Sai Wine, the conversations revealed a market obsessed with margins – we’re talking 0.1% differences making or breaking deals.

Coming from Lagos’s “move fast and break things” culture, I found Ghana’s methodical approach refreshing. Their concerns were precise.

Personal Ghana: Beyond Business

Ghana showed me I’m not really an indoor person – I just hate the Lagos traffic. I explored the Central Region with friends, visiting Cape Coast, Elmina Castle, and Kakum National Park. The Aburi Botanical Gardens offered a peaceful escape, while the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park connected me with history.

Christmas at the Ghana office felt different – more intimate, less chaotic. Between champagne reflections and playing Santa, I discovered a side of Africa that challenges everything Lagos had taught me.

The Return

On December 18th, as flight AW 214 descended into Lagos, the familiar chaos welcomed me back. But Ghana had changed something in me – maybe it was the coins in my pocket, or perhaps the realisation that sometimes, the grass is actually greener (and calmer) on the other side.

Shalom 🙏🏽