About the Mall

HISTORY OF THE MALL

The development of the Accra Mall and its current location was the product of some speculative conjecturing and educated guessing on the part of the initiating partner of the mall, Mr. Owusu-Akyaw.

By nature very speculative with respect to lands for farming and commercial development, Mr. Owusu-Akyaw, on his daily commutes from Tema to the SSNIT headquarters in Adabraka, Accra, where he worked in the early 1970s, wondered about the nature and direction of the development of Accra. He made an educated observation, based on the pattern of development at the Airport residential area and its surroundings, that the Tetteh Quarshie Circle (as it was then known) was destined to be the center of Accra.

He realized that Accra could not develop southwards as a result of the sea and the old township of the city, most of which is now a slum. Tema to the east had been developed by the Tema Development Corporation and was likely to expand towards Accra. The location of the University of Ghana and new settlements at Madina meant that Accra could develop with considerable ease northwards and the Tetteh Quarshie Circle and its environs could develop into the center of the capital, especially due to its proximity to the nation’s only major Airport.

With this as the basis Mr Owusu-Akyaw set off to secure land near the Tetteh Quarshie circle that could support some kind of commercial development. He acquired a 10-acre parcel of land from the Lands Commission, through the Civil Aviation Authority, for the development of a hotel complex. The land had been badly disturbed by winners of sand and gravels for development in the Airport residential area. The land was filled with several craters, which did not make it attractive to most people for any purpose.

At the time of purchase in 1972, there was very little development around the area. However, over time, developments at East Legon and Dzorwulu increased greatly, causing phenomenal growth in human and vehicular traffic around the Tetteh Quarshie Circle. Also several decent hotels mushroomed around the airport and its immediate environs. Looking at the demography of the settlements around the area, it was clear that that there was a need for a shopping center to serve the needs of the middle and upper income groups who lived there, but who had to go all the way to downtown Accra, around Makola, the Central Post Office and also Osu, to do their shopping.

These observations crystallized the idea of a shopping mall instead of a hotel and led to the vision of creating a community mall at the crossroads of the Spintex Road and the Accra-Tema Motorway to take advantage of the traffic at the location.

Mr. Owusu-Akyaw commissioned a number of consultants to undertake the statutory studies for environmental and traffic impact assessment, demographic studies, geodetic surveys, etc. The first problem to be tackled was to do with an architectural design that would meet the requirements of international retailers and attract anchor tenants, without which securing financing for a shopping mall of the size envisaged was impossible.

A chance encounter with Johan Zietsman, who had been commissioned by Shoprite Checkers, in South Africa, to explore the chances of securing a land in Ghana for development, led the executives of Shoprite expressing interest in the development of the mall at Mr. Owusu-Akyaw’s site. In May 1996, the chief executive of Shoprite, Whieten Bassum, accompanied by his top executives flew to Ghana to meet with Mr. Owusu-Akyaw and to inspect the site, after which they made a commitment to take up space at the Accra Mall development. The news of Shoprite’s presence in no time led Game stores of South Africa to also agree to participate in the venture. With these two anchor tenants, the project became more viable and more attractive for funding.

With the anchor tenants secured, the project turned its attention to the design of the mall to meet the requirements of the tenants and also to identifying investors and meeting their requirements.

While Ghana has some of the best investment promotion laws and incentives to attract investors, the country still has a problem attracting enough direct foreign investments. The conviction of Mr. Owusu-Akyaw is that attracting quality foreign investments requires the ability of local project developers to develop business proposals that are well prepared and attractive enough to catch the attention of foreign investors while at the same time good enough to serve the aspirations of the country.

To make the project attractive to foreign investors, the initiating developer, contracted a South African retail development consultant, the Center for Planning and Development, CPD, experts in the field of retail development, to assist him prepare a project document that provided all the vital information required by both investors and retailers.

The aim was to secure all the reports, licensing and permits to eliminate all the bottlenecks and difficulties investors face when they come into the country. Local consultants were engaged to work with the foreign consultant to produce all the required reports, which were then put together into a comprehensive project document that was presented to identifiable and potential investors in Ghana and South Africa in particular.

The project then set out to appoint Rene De Langen a South Africa consulting architect to design and provide a conceptual drawing for the approval of the retailers.

Funding for the project remained a major challenge. The novelty of the concept, and coming from a country with no track record of a shopping center of the size envisaged, made selling the project difficult. Mr. Owusu-Akyaw had the arduous task of seeking a hefty 30 million dollar loan, then the estimated cost of the project. After several years of hard work up and down South Africa and in Ghana, meeting with almost every major bank, the developers drew a blank.

Just when things seemed gloomy, Mr. Owusu-Akyaw had the fortune of meeting a Ghanaian, Dominic Adu, an officer of ACTIS based in Lagos, who, incidentally, had heard of the project in Ghana. He introduced the project to his colleagues and they invited Mr. Owusu-Akyaw to a meeting in South Africa. The group saw the project as viable on a trimmed down scale and proceeded to provide financing for it.

Detailed design of the mall was awarded to the Johannesburg based Bentel Associates International (BAI), an internationally recognised and award-winning retail design group. BAI are at the forefront of retail design and development in Africa. BAI were also responsible for the recently opened Lagos palms in Lagos Nigeria - a world-class shopping facility and the first of its kind in Nigeria.

ABOUT THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL IMPACT OF ACCRA MALL

A growing economy and a growing middle class with disposable income has created a substantial demand for consumer goods and resulted in unprecedented retail growth. Over the past ten years, consumer demand for convenience and quality all over the world has grown considerably and modern retail has been expanding at a very fast pace in the emerging economies.

In many African countries, open-air markets with stalls and shops have always been the norm in providing goods for shoppers. However, with rising consumer expectations and high growth in the retail sector, the time has come where the shopping mall concept should be entrenched. Increasing consumer demand is creating a trend toward formalised shopping centres with anchor tenants and many national retailers.

As the middle-class grows, individuals want to shop in a better atmosphere where they will enjoy the variety and choice that a large shopping centre can provide. The Accra Mall will provide urban Ghanaians with their first local modern shopping experience.

Although some critics have questioned the impact of modern retail growth on emerging economies, it is generally considered beneficial as it produces a myriad of positive benefits that far outweigh any perceived disadvantages. A growth in the retail industry has been a catalyst for job creation, the reduction of protectionism, infrastructural improvements, improved standards of living, competitive advantages and general economic growth.

The A-grade Accra retail development is expected to raise living standards by providing food and products as well as leisure facilities in a safe and congenial shopping environment. Ghanaians will be able to enjoy the goods and services widely available elsewhere in the world.

As the country forges its way towards becoming a middle-income country, the Accra Mall is a palpable symbol of the need to meet the increasingly sophisticated consumer needs of a modernized economy. The mall provides a totally new lifestyle of a one-stop shopping complex as seen in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world.

The mall is already serving as a landmark of attraction in the capital city, and in a period marking the 50th Anniversary of the birth of the nation, the Accra Mall functions as a symbol of the growth, modernization and progress of the nation. Beyond its cultural symbolism, the economic and social benefits of the mall are incalculable. Experts see a lot of economic benefits for the country, for developers, tenants and the consumers.

Experts believe that, as a pioneering development, the mall will act as a major tourist destination and help boost investment in Ghana. It will stimulate the local property market, as developers will start investing in both existing and future developments to match the level and standards created. Also, it will spur growth in the retail industry by helping to develop new retail-job skills, make the retail business more professional and make retail managers more aware of new trends in the industry.

In addition to the benefits for the retail industry, the mall will grow new local entrepreneurs and significantly encourage local production of goods and services which, it is estimated, will help create over 5,000 jobs. Further, enormous revenue will accrue to the state and the metropolitan and municipal authorities from the business of the shops and services at the mall. It is projected that taxes, rates and fees of about $60 million will accrue from the two anchor tenants over a ten-year period. All these will help to grow the national economy and improve the standard of living.

Apart from the economic benefits, the mall will be socially beneficial in providing food and a wide range of products as well as leisure facilities in a safe and congenial shopping environment. The mall will, therefore, help foster development of middle-class tastes and consumer demand for convenience and quality goods. Many Ghanaians are increasingly able to enjoy the goods and services widely available elsewhere in the world and entrepreneurs and investors must work to ensure that they meet the new demands