The port city of Tema has been an inspiration for the real estate industry in Ghana.

In the developing world, there are only a few cities that can be classified as being carved out from careful planning. Philippines has Makati City, Nigeria has Abuja and Mexico, Guadalajara. These cities exude the beauty and swagger that has attracted indigenes and visitors from around the world. Ghana too has its very own planned city in Tema. The port city, established in 1961 under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah, has grown to become the embodiment and inspiration for real estate developers in the country.

Before it assumed its city status, the area now occupied by the Tema Harbour belonged to a small fishing community known as Torman. The name generated as a result of the gourd (used in calabash making) grown by inhabitants of the village. In their local language, gourd wits tor while man means nation. Upon the government’s acquisition of the village, the name was changed to Tema.

Tema has one of the most organized neighbourhoods in Ghana, in terms of its road networks and social amenities. The city starts from the toll booth of the Tema Motorway all the way to the harbour. Most neighbourhoods in Ghana have names, some of them having rather amusing names such as Sowutuom which wits hold your gun. With Tema, most neighbourhoods are divided into communities and are identified by numbers.

This starts from Community 1 up to Community 25. You may have thought that these communities follow in order of numbers but that can be rather deceptive. In a strange twist, communities seem to follow an orderly pattern up to a point and then in irregular patterns in some respect.

The city was planned as an industrial hub, with pockets of residences spread around to cater for its workers. Due to the commercial activities, it has attracted a vast number of people to the area, mostly house-hunters looking for a distinct place to live.

Tema is a city with huge prospects for the nation of Ghana and it is no wonder this city can be described as being larger than life!