The Bead Market

Koforidua Bead Market

Koforidua plays host to one of the best bead markets in West Africa. It occurs every Thursday in Jackson Park, just a few blocks from the main market in Kof-town.

The market is sprawling with beads sellers mostly from Ghana (and majority being from the Yilo Krobo District), but also a handful of nomadic traders who travel all over West Africa. There are stalls after stalls of brightly colored beads strewn on long raffia strands for purchase as well as piles of loose individual beads atop of local cloth, laid out on the ground for you to dig through.
On the periphery of the market, traders sell crushed glass and colored glass powder to supply the bead makers within the region, as well as packaged beads to buy in bulk.

Typically three types of beadwork can be found here. The two most common, locally made, are:

1. Colored glass beads sold in bunches or individual strands, and
2. Patterned glass beads, with unique individual designs, that are sold loosely or on smaller strands.

The third type of beads that are found here are:

3. "Old" beads. These are typically more expensive than the locally made ones; unless you were privy to the origin of them beforehand, it is very difficult to distinguish the old ones from the new ones. The old ones were made in Ghana mostly during the time of the Portuguese and British occupation in Ghana, or were brought in through the Indo-Arab sea trade.

In addition, there are plenty of traders selling finished jewelry products eager for you to buy...or at look at for "no charge!"