Accra’s most expensive sentence: “I am just going to the mall”

There are many expensive things in Accra. Rent. Fuel. Groceries. School fees. But nothing prepares your bank account for the sentence: “I’m just going to the mall”.

Nobody in Accra goes to the mall for just one thing.

At least, that is what we tell ourselves.

I am just going to get toothpaste.

Simple mission. In and out. No distractions. No unnecessary spending.

Then somehow, two hours later, you are walking to the car park carrying a shopping bag, drinking an iced coffee, holding a receipt that has folded itself and then you are wondering how toothpaste became a GH¢400 outing. You check your Momo alerts three times, hoping the app was joking.

You did not go to the mall.

The mall happened to you.

The One-Item Lie

”I am just going for one thing” may be one of the most dangerous sentences in Accra.

The mall is designed to make you reconsider your definition of one thing.

You enter for toothpaste. Then you remember you need body lotion. Then you see the perfume, sitting there under a spotlight like it personally called your name. You enter ”MRP”, then you notice the slippers. Then you tell yourself you have been meaning to replace that old handbag the one that has one more season in it.

A lie you have told since 2019. Then you see something you do not need but suddenly cannot live without.

Before you know it, you are standing at the till asking yourself the question every responsible adult eventually asks:

“Who told me to come here?” Nobody.

You came voluntarily. For toothpaste.

“I’m Just Looking”

Then comes the second stage: “I am just looking.”

We all know this lie.

You walk into a shop with absolutely no intention of buying anything. You are simply browsing. You pick something up. You put it down. You pick it up again. You check the price tag like it might have changed since the last time you looked at it thirty seconds ago. You tell yourself it is expensive. You walk away.

Then you come back.

Now you have emotionally bonded with it. You have imagined three separate outfits it goes with and one Instagram caption. Suddenly the price does not look so bad.

“It’s an investment.” that is what we say to comfort ourselves.

An investment in what? Nobody knows. But somehow your bank account is about to fund it, and no dividend is ever coming.

Since I am Already Here…

This is where things become dangerous.

“Since I am already here…”

Those four words have emptied more Ghanaian bank accounts than “agreement fee” ever did.

Since I am already here, let me get coffee.

Since I am already here, let me eat.

Since I am already here, let me check the clothes.

Since I am already here, let me look at the electronics not to buy, just to “see what’s out.”

The mall turns a small errand into an entire lifestyle package and because you are already there, every additional purchase begins to feel reasonable. A rounding error in a trip you have already “paid” for with fuel and parking.

You do not make one big decision to spend money. You make twenty tiny decisions that individually do not seem serious.

Until you see the final bill.

Then you need to sit down. Preferably somewhere in the mall, so you can buy a drink while you recover.

The Coffee Was Not Part of the Plan

The coffee?

Nobody planned the coffee. You did not wake up and put an iced latte in the budget between transport and data bundle. But after walking around the mall for forty minutes under fluorescent lighting, suddenly you are tired. You deserve a drink. You have worked hard. Life has been stressful. You need a little treat.

GH¢60 later:

“At least I enjoyed myself.”

That sentence is doing a lot of financial damage in modern Accra. We have become very good at turning unnecessary spending into self-care.

Then Comes Food

You have food at home. You know this. There is rice in the fridge. There is stew. There may even be chicken.

But you are at the mall and suddenly homemade food does not meet your expectations.

You tell yourself: ” I will just eat something small.”

There is no small thing at the mall. There is a meal. There is a drink. There is and lasagna, again, as if the first one never happened and because you have already spent money on parking and transport, you convince yourself that you might as well enjoy the “full experience.”

At this point, the toothpaste, the entire original reason for the trip; is the cheapest thing in the bag.

But Is the Mall Really the Problem?

Perhaps not. This is where the conversation becomes more interesting.

The mall is not simply a place where Ghanaians go to buy things anymore. For many people, particularly in Accra, it has quietly become the default social space.

You meet friends there. You go on dates there. You take your children there. You “work from there” with one eye on your laptop and the other on the food court. You escape the heat there, no small thing in this weather. You eat there. You take pictures there, three outfit changes deep before you havw bought a single thing.

You spend a whole Saturday afternoon there because, if you are honest, you do not know where else in the city to go that does not eventually ask you to pay for a table.

That tells us something about urban life in Accra: we are not always buying things because we desperately need them. Sometimes we are buying experiences. Sometimes we are simply paying for the feeling that comes attached to those experiences.

A coffee becomes a break. A new outfit becomes a mood boost. A meal becomes an outing. A shopping trip becomes entertainment.

The mall is not merely selling products. It is selling a way to spend your free time and charging admission for it, one small purchase at a time.

Accra Has Made Spending Look Like Fun

This is perhaps the bigger problem.

Accra is an expensive city. But it is also a city where leisure increasingly comes with a bill attached, and precious few spaces that do not.

You want to meet your friend? Let’s go somewhere.

You want to celebrate? Let’s go somewhere.

You want to relax? Let’s go somewhere.

You want to take pictures? Let’s go somewhere.

And that “somewhere” usually expects you to spend money the moment you sit down. So naturally, the mall becomes attractive. It has air conditioning. Parking. Food. Shops. Wi-Fi. Clean bathrooms. A place to sit that does not require a reservation. Importantly, somewhere to feel like you are doing something even when you are doing absolutely nothing except walking around in a loop with a shopping bag as your only proof of activity.

The Real Luxury Is Going Home With Your Money

Perhaps we need to rediscover the art of doing nothing.

Stay home. Watch a movie. Cook. Read. Call a friend. Sit on your balcony. Take a walk that does not end at a till. Have people over and let jollof do the socialising for you.

Somewhere along the way, we started believing that leisure must involve consumption. If we are not eating, shopping, drinking, travelling or taking pictures, are we even enjoying ourselves?

Maybe we are.

Maybe enjoyment does not always need a receipt. Maybe relaxation does not need a reservation. Maybe “soft life” is not buying another candle because the packaging is beautiful and the shop smelled nice.

Maybe soft life is having enough money left after the weekend to actually survive Monday.

So the next time you tell yourself, “I’m just going to the mall,” remember the toothpaste. Remember the coffee. Remember the slippers. Remember the mysterious purchase you will later struggle to explain to your bank statement, and to yourself.

And most importantly, remember that little voice in your head saying:

“Since I’m already here…”

That voice has expensive intentions.

Because you did not go to the mall for a lifestyle.

You went for toothpaste.

And somehow, you came back with everything except perhaps the toothpaste.

By Hannah Agyemang

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