Everything nobody tells you about living in Accra

Free, independent guides to Ghanaian bureaucracy, housing, money and daily life. Written for anyone making Accra home — returnees, new arrivals, and Ghanaians who have simply never had to renew a roadworthy before.

Greater Accra, by district assembly. Choose one to open it on the map. Explore the map →

Explore Accra

Things to play with, not just read.

Start here

The things that block everything else. Until these are done, you cannot open a bank account, sign a lease or get paid properly.

Coming up in Accra

All events ➞

Work it out

All 12 calculators ➞

The same figures as the guides, worked out on your own device. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

The numbers, today

Every figure on this site comes from one dated file, so a guide can never quietly go stale. How that works ➞

What How much Where it bites
Daily minimum wage ₵21.77 About ₵566 a month
Tax-free income ₵490/month Everything above it is taxed in bands
SSNIT off your payslip 5.5% Your employer adds another 13%
VAT you actually pay 20% Not 15% — the levies compound
Legal maximum rent advance 6 months Landlords routinely ask for 12

Browse everything

Moving to Accra

Guides for the first weeks - visas, the Ghana Card, a place to sleep and a phone number that works.

  1. How to move to Accra
    1. Your first week checklist
    2. Visiting Accra
    3. Weather and seasons
  2. Getting a visa
    1. Residence permits
    2. Work permits
    3. The Right of Abode
    4. Ghanaian citizenship
    5. Dual citizenship
  3. Flying into Accra
    1. Kotoka airport, terminal by terminal
    2. Flying out of Accra
  4. Getting a Ghana Card
    1. Your digital address
    2. SIM cards and internet
16 guides ➞

Government paperwork

Passports, certificates, licences and the agencies that issue them. The documents everything else in Ghana asks you for, and what to do when one of them is lost, wrong or in somebody else's name.

  1. Getting a passport
    1. Police clearance certificates
    2. Authenticating documents for use abroad
    3. Swearing an affidavit
  2. Birth certificates
    1. Death certificates
    2. Getting married, and registering it
    3. Changing or correcting your name
  3. Driving licences
    1. Registering a vehicle
  4. Replacing lost documents
  5. Ghana's regulators, and who to complain to
12 guides ➞

Housing in Accra

Finding a place, surviving the rent advance, checking a tenancy agreement and not buying land twice.

  1. How to find a place to live
    1. Where to live in Accra
      1. East Legon
      2. Cantonments
    2. Rent in Accra, district by district
    3. Rent advance calculator
    4. Housing and land scams
  2. The rent advance
    1. Your tenancy agreement
    2. Tenancy agreement template
    3. Rent advance receipt
    4. The Rent Control Department
  3. Buying land in Ghana
    1. Land law and conveyancing
14 guides ➞

Utilities and daily life

Electricity, water, waste and the small infrastructure of an Accra household.

  1. Electricity and dumsor
  2. Water in Accra
  3. Internet and SIM cards
  4. Waste collection
    1. Giving things away
  5. Reporting broken infrastructure
6 guides ➞

Money in Ghana

Mobile money, bank accounts, PAYE, SSNIT and what a month in Accra actually costs.

  1. Cost of living in Accra
    1. Cost of living calculator
  2. Mobile money
    1. Opening a bank account
    2. Types of bank account
    3. Sending money to Ghana
    4. Receiving money in Ghana
    5. Sending money out of Ghana
  3. Income tax and PAYE
    1. Salary calculator
    2. VAT and the levies
    3. VAT calculator
  4. SSNIT and pensions
    1. The three pension tiers
    2. Pension tax relief
    3. Private and voluntary pensions
    4. Pension calculator
  5. Importing a car
    1. Customs clearance
    2. Using ICUMS
  6. Exporting from Ghana
21 guides ➞

Working in Ghana

Finding a job, reading a Ghanaian contract, knowing your rights under the Labour Act and going freelance.

  1. How to find a job in Accra
    1. Employment contract checklist
  2. National service
  3. Your rights as an employee
    1. Resignation letter template
  4. Freelancing in Ghana
    1. Registering a business
7 guides ➞

Starting a business in Accra

Most working people in Accra work for themselves. The paperwork, the money, choosing where to trade - and how to start twelve specific trades.

  1. Entrepreneurship in Accra
    1. Registering a business
    2. The traditional trades of Accra
    3. Starting a tech company
  2. Food
    1. Kenkey and waakye
    2. A chop bar
  3. Everyday services
    1. A barbershop
    2. A hair salon
    3. Tailoring and dressmaking
    4. Phone repair
    5. A car wash
  4. Retail
    1. A provisions shop
    2. A clothing boutique
  5. Licensed trades
    1. A creche or daycare
    2. A chemical shop
  6. Land-based
    1. A poultry farm
16 guides ➞

Getting around Accra

Trotros, ride-hailing, okada and the DVLA.

  1. How to get around Accra
    1. Understanding trotro routes
  2. Driving in Accra
  3. Domestic flights in Ghana
4 guides ➞

Health and healthcare

The NHIS, private insurance, where to go when you are sick and how to stay ahead of malaria.

  1. NHIS and health insurance
    1. Private health insurance
  2. Hospitals in Accra
  3. Finding a doctor
    1. Specialists
    2. Dentists and eye care
  4. Staying well
    1. Malaria and staying healthy
    2. Pharmacies and medicines
    3. Mental health
  5. Having a baby in Accra
10 guides ➞

Schools and education

How Ghanaian schooling works, from creche to university - and what it costs.

  1. Schools in Accra
    1. Creches and daycare
    2. International schools
    3. School and university books
  2. What education costs
  3. Universities in Ghana
    1. Studying here as a foreigner
    2. National service
  4. Learning a trade
9 guides ➞

Services and everyday help

Artisans, domestic help, hairdressers, vets and the professionals worth paying for.

  1. Finding a tradesperson
  2. Hiring help at home
  3. Hair, barbers and salons
  4. Gyms and sport
    1. Running in Accra
  5. Pets and vets
  6. Lawyers and accountants
7 guides ➞

Shopping in Accra

Markets, malls, Melcom and Instagram vendors - where Accra actually buys things, and what it should cost.

  1. Where to shop in Accra
    1. Accra's markets
    2. Online shopping
    3. Buying food cheaply
    4. Buying second-hand clothes
    5. Buying electronics
    6. Buying furniture
    7. Buying building materials
    8. Buying car parts
  2. Books and bookshops
  3. Furnishing a home
    1. Importing and customs
12 guides ➞

Technology in Accra

The apps everyone here actually uses, the startups and hubs building things, how to work in tech, and how not to be defrauded online.

  1. Buying a phone or laptop
  2. The apps you actually need
    1. Fintech apps
    2. Ride-hailing and delivery
    3. Online fraud, and how to avoid it
  3. Working in tech
    1. Learning to code
    2. Remote work from Accra
  4. Tech startups in Accra
    1. Starting a tech company
    2. Hubs and co-working spaces
    3. Communities and meetups
12 guides ➞

Living in Ghana

Language, food, funerals, public holidays and the parts of daily life nobody writes down.

  1. Learning Twi and Ga
  2. Radio in Accra
    1. Listening from abroad
  3. What to eat in Accra
    1. Where to eat cheaply
    2. Chop bars
    3. Street food
    4. Waakye
    5. Kenkey and fish
    6. Banku and tilapia
  4. Public holidays
  5. Ghanaian authors worth reading
    1. Books and bookshops
    2. Children's books
  6. Funerals and social obligations
  7. Emergency numbers
16 guides ➞

Exploring Accra and Ghana

Beaches, history, festivals, nightlife and everywhere worth going within a weekend of the city.

  1. Things to do in Accra
    1. Accra's beaches
    2. Kayaking, surfing and water sports
    3. Drive Accra online
    4. Nightlife and live music
    5. Night out planner
    6. Tour guides and tours
  2. Out of the city
    1. Cape Coast and Elmina
  3. Festivals in Ghana
10 guides ➞

Accra and Ghana in numbers

What the census and sixty-five years of national data actually say about Accra and about Ghana - and how to tell which is which.

  1. How Accra grew
    1. Ghana's population in numbers
  2. Accra's economy in numbers
    1. Inflation and the cedi
    2. Money sent home to Ghana
  3. Education in Ghana in numbers
  4. Infrastructure in numbers
  5. How to read Ghanaian statistics
8 guides ➞

Calculators

Ghanaian salary calculators, rent advance calculators and VAT calculators. Everything runs in your browser.

  1. Salary calculator
  2. Rent advance calculator
  3. Cost of living calculator
  4. VAT calculator
  5. Import duty calculator
  6. Vehicle import duty calculator
  7. Withholding tax calculator
  8. Loan repayment calculator
  9. WASSCE aggregate calculator
  10. Business viability checker
  11. Pension calculator
  12. Night out planner
12 guides ➞

Letter and document templates

Tenancy agreements, receipts, resignation letters and checklists you can copy and adapt.

  1. Tenancy agreement template
  2. Rent advance receipt
  3. Resignation letter
  4. Contract checklist
4 guides ➞
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