Benjamin Baba Haruna knows how to scrutinize the moods of the ocean like no other. This April morning, the water rose so high that it lapped the feet of the bungalows lining the beach in Busua, a small coastal town in western Ghana. Its azure color is an invitation to swim. “But look at the blond foam that has formed in places, it’s the sand that swirls on the surface: there are dangerous currents,” says the 29-year-old colossus, a pioneer of the surfing community in this country. of West Africa that some people dream of as a new Eldorado for board sports.
For Benjamin, aka “Big Ben”, this intimacy with the sea was not a straight path. Born in Accra, the capital, he could not even swim until he arrived in Busua at the age of 14. It was the chances of life that led him, with other young people, to this fishing village. At the time, only a few tourists took to the turbulent waters. The tall teenager feels the irrepressible urge to imitate them, even if it means having to settle for an old, broken board and overcome the fear aroused by this sea in the Gulf of Guinea where the currents are unpredictable and there are many incidents.
“Hearing this, my mother was terrified. She was sure I would end up drowning! laughs the monitor, who goes back and forth between Busua and Kokrobite, another coastal town near the capital: “His dream was that I would become a soldier. But today, she understands that surfing is my way of making a living. »
In Busua, surfing is slowly transforming the economy and customs. Since a former American Peace Corps volunteer opened a first shop there in 2006, schools and small hotels have multiplied. With its long golden beach surrounded by lush greenery and its powerful and regular waves, the locality has earned the nickname of “capital of surfing” in Ghana. The station even received a visit in April 2022 from the icon of the board on the continent, the South African Michael February. And for the past few months, almost all the instructors have obtained their official certification from the International Surfing Association.
100% female classes
In warm water, Ghanaians are at least as numerous as expatriates and passing tourists. Clinging to bodyboards, three girls throw themselves into the foam, giggling. They will not venture far today, the sea is too rough. Josephine, Anisha and Christina are between 14 and 16 years old and come every day to practice after class. “Before, they used to sit on the beach and watch the boys in the water. Obviously, none of them knew how to swim, because normally the girls stay at home, ”describes Teddy Baidoo, an instructor from the Justice’s Brothers school who launched this session of 100% female lessons two years ago.
Sporting long black and pink braids, as a sign of a certain audacity, Saskia Kwegginah, 21, is one of the first in the village to have benefited from it. “We had to fight with our parents to get them to let us go,” she recalls. Now employed in a seaside hotel, she no longer really has time for aquatic leisure. But she is pleased that “today in Busua, no one is surprised to see a girl throwing herself into the sea: all that has changed people’s eyes”.
Even in full swing, the surf scene in Ghana remains confidential. Yet the country has an old history with this discipline. According to American history professor Kevin Dawson, quoted in Afrosurf, an anthology book on African surfing culture published in 2021, the very first account of its very primitive practice dates from the 17th century in what is now Ghana: reporting on its wanderings in the region, the German merchant Michael Hemmersam described children sliding on the waves with the help of wooden planks.
The country was also highlighted in The Endless Summer, a cult film released in 1966 and retracing the expedition of two Californians in search of the best spots on the planet. A stop on the beach of Labadi, near Accra, makes them rub shoulders with young Ga (an ethnic group from the region) who we see riding with more or less ease the longboards of the Americans.
“They looked like they were having so much fun, I wanted to check it out too,” Brett Davies says today. This 48-year-old Briton with a machine-gun flow has done more than anyone else to popularize surfing in Ghana. Fifteen years ago, then an employee of the Rip Curl brand, he ventured to Busua, a little like the two Californians in the film: “At the time, the country had no more than two surfers but otherwise it was all there: deserted beaches, world class waves, atmosphere, music… I fell in love. »
A few years later, Brett Davies is packing his bags in this “new frontier of surfing”. First in Busua, then in Kokrobite, where he opened a school and now a workshop to make boards. In a decade, this native of Cornwall has seen the development of the second and then the third generation of Ghanaian surfers. There are now about 60 of them, and many of them, such as “Big Ben”, learned the basics from him.
Tutoring
With the help of sponsors, “Mr Bright”, as he is called here, was able to offer boards to these new enthusiasts and take them to competitions in neighboring countries. “Ghana doesn’t have the technical level of South Africa, Morocco or even Senegal at all, but I want to push them to become better. And above all, share my passion,” he says, twirling in his Hawaiian shirt from one end of the workshop to the other.
Some of his “disciples” are taking up the torch of transmission. In Busua, Benjamin Baba Haruna is the sponsor of the NGO Teach on the Beach, which offers educational support to around fifty children. Recently, he has integrated a surfing program to teach them to swim while having fun. The idea is not really to train champions. But every new surfer, he explains, becomes a sort of lifeguard, helping to make the sea safer and more accessible.
So it is on the beaches of the old Gold Coast. “Surfers here do more than just surf, they’re not here just to win,” says Sandy Alibo from Martinique. Settled in the country for six years, she founded the collective “Surf Ghana” to promote the culture of board sports, on water or on wheels. His latest contribution is the construction of a “surf house” in Busua. A project carried out with the financial assistance of the Vans brand and entrusted to American architects Glenn DeRoché and Austrian architects Juergen Strohmayer, both based in Accra.
Designed as a community meeting space, the place welcomes young people in the shade of a large ficus that has been preserved and integrated into the raw concrete terrace opening onto the ocean. The project, which incorporates local materials, such as laterite earth and raffia, was presented at the Venice Architecture Biennale in late May. “We didn’t have a lot of space, not a lot of budget, but the challenge was exciting because surfing is a real space for creativity,” says Glenn DeRoché. It’s a whole culture, a style, with the particular design of the boards, not to mention the inventiveness of those who can’t afford to buy equipment and try to surf on almost everything. In short, surfing beyond surfing.
