'When The Sea Comes Home': Businesses along Accra's coastline fight to hold back advancing sea

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:01]Along parts of Ghana's coastline, the battle against the sea is no longer a future threat as waves move closer to homes and businesses.

[00:00:11]Property owners are spending heavily on private sea defense measures fearing they could eventually lose everything to the sea.

[00:00:23]At Kole Gonno in Accra, concrete barriers now stand between hotels and the sea.

[00:00:29]Whilst sand bags support weakened foundations where erosion has gradually eaten the way the land beneath. A hotelier who spoke on condition of anonymity says the current waves have become increasingly dangerous. The current waves, I think uh the global warming is having a telling on the on the on the sea. It is very dangerous. Very very The sea is very powerful. The sea It was a month ago. IT JUST RUSHED upstream and nearly took some people away.

[00:01:04]Further along the coast at the Artists Alliance Gallery, management has spent heavily on protective measures to keep the sea from moving further inland.

[00:01:16]Huge rocks now line sections of the shore forming a barrier between the waves and the buildings behind them.

[00:01:24]Oscar Odoi Glover is a manager at the Artists Alliance Gallery.

[00:01:30]>> It takes 10 years ago before the building was built.

[00:01:34]Uh my old man saw it wise that we needed sea defense. In fact, some of us saw it as a waste of fund because just behind you, you could see how we packed the marble stones, the very big one to hold the sea waves. Just behind me also, there is other ones. Beneath us also, there is a lot of marble stones, which we have built on it. Yes. These marble stones are able to hold the waves, so that at least we can protect the sea from at the long last taking all the building into the sea.

[00:02:21]But even with the protective measures, the sea continues to creep closer. For the past 16 years, the shoreline around the gallery has changed dramatically.

[00:02:31]The distance now from the sea to the street, formerly it was double that distance. So, with that you can tell how close the sea is for the past 60 years.

[00:02:43]Now, with us here, the sea is doing a lot of damage.

[00:02:52]One structure at the gallery site has already deteriorated so badly that management says it may eventually have to be demolished. There's a lot of salt in the wind. The salt eats into the wall. So, gradually, you see that the blocks are get are getting into powder form and then they are falling off. And so, definitely, there's nothing you can do about the building but plan to demolish the whole thing.

[00:03:22]Business owners say they are spending thousands of cities protecting properties that remain vulnerable every day. The cause and effect is very dangerous. We put some edges.

[00:03:35]Some people do have put rocks. This is actually helping, you know, to to push the sea backwards. Residents and business owners blame illegal sand winning for worsening the erosion.

[00:03:49]Even as some people try to protect the shoreline, others continue removing sand from the beach. Human activities is also helping the sea to come closer to us.

[00:04:02]Especially the winning of the sand.

[00:04:06]People come, collect sand, collect stones from the shore.

[00:04:12]All these things enable the sea to move closer to us. It's creating some valley.

[00:04:18]Uh and it's always pushing the sea towards the coast, which is very dangerous. So, education must go on and you know, educate the perpetrators of this heinous crime.

[00:04:29]>> As private businesses struggle to defend themselves, there are growing calls for a larger state-led sea defense systems across vulnerable coastal communities. There are areas that they need the government needs to come and help as far as the sea defense is concerned.

[00:04:48]If you can remember, we've done sea defense as far as from the water.

[00:04:52]There's a need for the government to come into our aid so that at least those who can't protect themselves from the sea wave, the government can do something about it to help us, not only us, but to help the country as a whole. The walls are getting higher.

[00:05:11]More rocks are being piled along the shore, but with every crashing wave, the sea keeps moving closer, threatening homes, businesses, an entire stretch of Ghana's coastline.

[00:05:26]Immanuel Agbenou, Joy News, Accra.

[00:05:45]>> [music] [music] >> Mhm.