The Ubiquity of Construction (Noises) in Ghana

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Most of us are familiar with terms like "developed" used to describe wealthy countries and "developing" or even "underdeveloped" to classify poorer ones, including most of those in Africa.  What I've come to realize, living in Africa, is that these description are quite literal.  In other words, you can actually see a country like Ghana "developing", as there's construction going on practically everywhere.  Contrastingly, in most parts of the United States, i.e. a "developed" nation, you rarely see any new buildings going up.  Unlike Ghana, in the U.S. construction tends to be more along the lines of renovation or reconstruction,.

I'm sure I've used this blog to complain about noise pollution in GH before.  In more recent times, since I realized I can't escape from it, I've come to accept this fate and embrace it, as best I can.

I was recently discussing this with a homey, how I've lived so many parts of Ghana, and virtually everywhere there's noise.  Despite being a Ghanaian, he's less traveled in the country than I am, which became evident when he suggested that I should go to the village as a means of escape.  I proceeded to explain to him that, based on my experiences, that the village can be even nosier than the city.  And in some instances, the same can also be said for the bush.  Where there's less buildings, such as in rural or remote areas, noise actually travels farther.

But the purpose of this post isn't to beat a dead horse.  Rather, it's to focus on a particular type of noise pollution you're likely to come across in Ghana, that being construction noises.

HOME OWNERSHIP VS. MORTGAGE

I know that mortgage is a form of home ownership. The way I understand it, with a mortgage the buyer owns the property concurrently with the bank, until the former is able to completely pay off the debt to the latter.  But in the meantime, the buyer can use the house as an asset, i.e. collateral.

That's not how things conventionally work in Ghana, as they do in the U.S.  In this part of the world, the norm is to buy land and then build a house from the ground up, with minimal, if any, involvement from a financial institution as a backer or lender.

In many areas, since the country is still "developing", there are vacant lots all over the place, which are constantly being bought and sold, and structures being built on top them.  Even in densely populated areas, what many people do is start building a house or compound and gradually completing over time.  For instance, maybe they'll build one storey and decide to finish a second later, when more funds are available.  Or they may decide to renovate or edify in some other way, such as already having a completed house and then opting to build another one on the same land, even if it's only a single plot.



Or more simply put, there's always building going on, everywhere.  The three above pics of are of major construction projects concurrently going on within just a city block of each other in a suburb of Accra.  And that's besides two relatively-minor ones transpiring in the same area. 

I would imagine the only parts of Ghana where construction noise isn't a neverending threat is in the few places where estates are already fully built.  And even with those types of massive developments, the owners may decide to expand at any given time, and there goes your peace.

CONCLUSION

Regardless of where you decide to rest your head in Ghana, there's a good chance, specifically during the daytime, that you will be met with the sound of hammers and other types of construction noises.  The country is in an active state of "developing", literally, meaning there's building going on all over the place.

As an expat, there's a good possibility that you may come over and build something yourself.  And maybe, you won't be able to get things exactly how you want it the first time around.  It's all good.  But either way, the possibility of being within the vicinity of incessant construction, renovation, etc. is something you should definitely expect as a resident


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