Your first week in Accra

Everything in Accra depends on something else. This is the order that works.

Tick items off as you go — the page remembers, so you can put your phone away in a queue and come back to it.

Day one

• Get a Ghanaian SIM card. Bring your passport. Do this at the airport or at a proper network shop, not from someone selling pre-registered SIMs. — How
• Buy a data bundle. Nothing else works without it.
• Get some cash. ATMs at Kotoka work; so do the forex bureaux, which usually give a better rate than the airport counter.
• Save emergency numbers. 112 for anything, 191 police, 193 ambulance, 192 fire. — Emergency numbers
• Install Bolt, Uber or Yango. All three, ideally. Fares differ.

Day two

• Set up mobile money. Register a wallet on your new number. You will use it for almost every payment from here on. — How
• Get your digital address. Install GhanaPostGPS and generate the code for wherever you are staying. Banks and couriers will ask for it. — How
• Buy an adapter if you need one. Ghana uses 230V, Type D and Type G plugs — the same three-pin as the United Kingdom.
• Buy a power bank, if you did not bring one. — Electricity and dumsor

Day three

• Start the Ghana Card process. Find your nearest NIA registration centre, confirm it is open and registering, and go early. This one takes the longest, so start it early in the week. — How
• Sort out drinking water. Sachet water, bottled, or a filter and a reusable bottle. — Water in Accra
• Eat waakye. Genuinely. Find the busiest roadside seller near you. — What to eat

Day four and five

• Walk the neighbourhoods you are considering. Two or three of them, on foot, looking for TO LET signs and asking at shops. — Where to live
• Test the commute to wherever you will be going every day, at the hour you would make it. Not on a Sunday.
• Learn one trotro route. Even if you will mostly use Bolt, knowing how it works is worth an afternoon. — Getting around
• Learn five phrases of Twi. Ɛte sɛn, bɔkɔɔ, medaase, mepa wo kyɛw, ɛyɛ sɛn. — Learning Twi and Ga

Day six and seven

• Register for NHIS. It activates after 90 days, so the sooner the better. — How
• Find your nearest pharmacy, clinic and hospital. Know where they are before you need them. — Hospitals in Accra
• Sort out malaria. Nets, repellent, and knowing the symptoms. — Malaria and staying healthy
• Work out your budget with real numbers now that you have seen some prices. — Cost of living calculator

Once the Ghana Card arrives

• Open a bank account. — How
• Re-register your SIM properly against the card.
• Note that your TIN already exists — it is the card PIN. You do not apply separately. — Income tax and PAYE

Before you sign a lease

Do not rush this. A month in a short-let while you look properly is far cheaper than a year’s advance on the wrong house.

• Meet the actual landlord and see proof of ownership
• Read the tenancy agreement — What to check
• Understand the advance — The rent advance
• Read the scams guide first — Housing scams
• Get a receipt naming the period — Template

Things to buy early

• A power bank and a rechargeable lamp
• A surge-protected extension board for anything expensive
• A mosquito net, if your accommodation has none
• Buckets, for the days the water does not come
• Charley wote — the flip-flops. You will live in them.
• Small denomination notes, constantly. Nobody has change for a ₵200.

If you are staying beyond your entry stamp

Start the residence permit process well before the stamp expires. Overstaying costs roughly $25 a day and complicates everything afterwards.

Residence permits