“It is for home but we use it for work”: intra-urban comparison of infrastructure and home-based enterprises in Accra

ABSTRACT

Urban infrastructure is crucial for livelihoods and economic growth, however, access remains fragmented. Such differential infrastructure provision within cities necessitates intra-urban comparison and a renewed commitment to re-thinking between and within neighborhoods in ways that do not universalize infrastructure geographies. This paper examines how electricity and water infrastructure affect home-based enterprises in four neighborhoods within one city. The study utilizes mixed methods and comparative analysis to reveal how residents in Accra experience varying degrees of electricity and water accessibility and how this affects their businesses. Each neighborhood has unique utility provisions and micro-economies, which have a tangible bearing on business viability. We argue that knowledge of the complex relationship between infrastructure and home-based enterprises is essential for understanding which processes, policies, and interventions best improve livelihoods and urban life in impoverished settings. We conclude that scholars and policymakers need to pay greater attention to how infrastructure is used productively in (re)producing urban economies and how this varies both between and within neighborhoods.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban comparison
• infrastructure
• water
• electricity
• livelihoods
• Ghana

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge valuable feedback from the anonymous reviewers on earlier versions of this paper. We are greatly indebted to all our participants who allowed us into their homes and workplaces to undertake this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For more detailed accounts of the water and electricity sectors in Ghana see Alba et al. (2022) and Eshun and Amoako-Tuffour (2016).

2 This refers to water vendors stationed in a community from which residents buy and collect tap water.

3 Research ethics clearance was granted by the University of Ghana Ethics Committee for Humanities (ECH 037/15-16). Informed consent was obtained from respondents in all instances, ensuring confidentiality, voluntary participation and anonymity.

4 The 2021 census data is yet to be made publicly available at a disaggregated level hence population data for the study settlements were not accessible to generate the sample size. The sample size of 100 per location was therefore pre-determined and was adequate for the statistical analysis as the purpose was not to generalize to the entire population.

5 Some product/service types have been combined to avoid excessive sample fragmentation.

6 Kenkey is a staple dish made with corn flour (or corn flour and grated cassava) and wrapped in maize or corn husks, usually served with pepper sauce and fried fish.

7 Fufu is a staple food made with cooked and pounded cassava and green plantain, usually served with light soup.

8 Banku is a fermented corn/cassava dough cooked in hot water into a smooth paste served with soup, stew or pepper sauce with fish.

9 A yellow container, which holds 10–20 litres of water, used to purchase water for storage.

10 This refers to vending points where users top up credit for their pre-paid meters.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the “African Rural-City Connections” (RurbanAfrica) research project. RurbanAfrica was funded by the European Union under the 7th Research Framework Programme (theme SSH), [grant agreement no. 290732]. More information can be found at: http://rurbanafrica.ku.dk/. Special thanks also to the BANGA-Africa program (University of Ghana with funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York) for providing a postdoctoral fellowship to Ebenezer Amankwaa to visit Loughborough University to write the final version of the paper; European Commission.