By Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
Lovers of kenkey, a staple food mapped to the indigenes of Ga land in Accra, will have to brace themselves as their favourite meal made from fermented corn has a price tag shooting up to GHS4 and GHS5 per ball, subject to location.
According to the ‘Kenkey Index’, the GHS2 price of a ball of kenkey died out as far back as November 2022. The report also revealed that, as at November 2023, one-third of kenkey selling joints sold their products for GHS5 per ball in Accra.
The report was put together after a collection of data was compiled from 30 to 40 Kenkey selling spots within the Accra Metropolitan Area from August 2022 to December 2023.
The index revealed that the GHS5 price of a ball of kenkey made its entry into the market in April 2023, causing the GHS2 price to vanish. It also stated that Teshie became the last stop for the GHS2 price of a ball of kenkey.
“April was also the month when the five-cedi kenkey made its entry. By November, one-third of the kenkey on offer on the streets of Accra was for GH¢5 – in the same month that the two-cedi kenkey disappeared. (Teshie was the last stop for the two-cedi kenkey).”
In an interview with Bernard Avle, Mr. Kobina Aidoo, a Development Researcher and Communications Advisor, popularly called “the Kenkey Economist,” emphasised that from August 2022 down to May 2023, the prices of kenkey saw a steady rise with plans to stabilise the market.
“In August 2022, the average ball of kenkey was GH¢2.60pesewas. At that time, we still had GH¢2 kenkey in the market. There was no GH¢4 kenkey or GH¢1 kenkey in the market. All the way down to May 2023, you could see the price on a steady rise of GH¢2.80, and sought to stabilize there,” he said.
He noted that, in effect, the kenkey inflation is 51.8% and that the higher the price of the kenkey, the heavier the kenkey. Ablekuma tops the kenkey league table as the spot with the heaviest ball of kenkey. With a weight of 739 grams per ball, the weight of Ablekuma kenkey supersedes that of a big green bottle of beer.