In July 2021, the Ghanaian government sent security forces to raze part of Agbogbloshie, taking workers and residents by surprise. This district of Accra, the capital of Ghana, is known to be one of the most polluted places in the world: the levels of lead and mercury in the ground are particularly high there. In fact, in the heart of the Ghanaian capital, between the huge Makola market and the Korle lagoon, Agbogbloshie is home to an open dump. Old cars, scrap metal, electronic and plastic waste… Since the 1990s, men mainly from the north of the country have been recovering and processing these materials to resell them to Ghanaian and foreign industries. Almost two years ago, a large number of them were expelled from Old Fadama – the local name for Agbogbloshie.
The feeling of injustice has not gone away. When recounting the story of Old Fadama’s expulsion, Salim Salefu still wonders why no one had been warned of the government’s intentions. Only the onion traders in the market opposite have benefited from an organized relocation. The scrap dealers have lost the land on which they have been trading for years. Today, around the Old Fadama clinic there is a vacant lot, strewn with plastic waste. While some fled after the eviction, others continued their activities as scrap metal workers displaced near their homes.
The eviction came after the launch of the ‘Let’s make Accra work’ campaign by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr. Henry Quartey. The populations concerned have paid the price and it is high. “When things happen like this, life becomes very difficult for the scrap metal workers, because if you live with your family, if you have children here… you have nothing to do but let them go back to the North “says Salim Salefu. He is now the secretary of the association that brings together the scrap dealers of Agbogbloshie, the GBESDA (Gbewa Scrap Dealers Association). “The goal is to ensure the well-being of all members,” he explains. The aim is to improve the representation of scrap metal workers by making their demands heard.
Mohammed has worked at Agbogbloshie for several years. If he lost everything two years ago, he managed to maintain his activity and retain his buyers. The room he shares with his family is located between two workshops whose hammer blows still resonate inside. Like other scrap dealers, Mohammed sells his materials to businesses in Tema, an industrial town east of Accra. However, he hopes to be able to change his workplace when possible. The GBESDA has indeed organized the purchase of land in Teacher Mante, north of the capital, where several hundred scrap dealers wish to settle.
Veronika Johannes, project officer at GIZ, a German development body, says: “After the closure, we were asked to support their search for a new space at Teacher Mante. We facilitated their communication with political institutions such as the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation. The relocation represents an opportunity for the scrap metal workers and their families to live in a healthier space, the air being difficult to breathe in Agbogbloshie. Certain practices such as the burning of cables to recover copper or aluminum are particularly harmful to health and the environment.
Burner boys burn cables before cooling them to extract the metals.
Agbogbloshie is an ecosystem in its own right in the Ghanaian economy: it is where materials and waste are concentrated, where they are transformed and resold by scrap dealers. Everyone has a role in this chain: some are in charge of collecting metals, others of recovering parts of used machines, still others act as financial intermediaries between workers and buyers.
These trades, if they are badly considered and barely allow workers to survive, are essential to the recycling and revaluation of objects sectors in Ghana, defends Veronika Johannes. “We never really supported the landfill narrative,” she explains, referring to news reports decrying the living conditions of the workers. Like other scholars, she is more interested in the “role of scrap metal in the Ghanaian economy, which provides raw material for the local economy and exporters”. All hope that Ghanaian scrap metal workers will soon integrate a healthier workspace.
