Tema is a city on the
Bight of Benin and
Atlantic coast of
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
. It is located east of the capital city;
Accra
Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...
, in the region of
Greater Accra, and is the capital of the
Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most populous settlement in Ghana, with a population of approximately 161,612 people – a marked decrease from its 2005 figure of 209,000.
[Tema](_blank)
. GhanaWeb.com. Retrieved 9 March 2013. The
Greenwich Meridian (00
Longitude) passes directly through the city.
[Greater Accra » Tema Metropolitan](_blank)
. GhanaDistricts.com. Retrieved 9 March 2013. Tema is locally nicknamed the "Harbour City" because of its status as Ghana's largest
seaport
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...
. It consists of 25 different communities which are numbered accordingly with each of them having easy access to the basic amenities.
Tema is a city constructed on the site of a small fishing village. Tema was commissioned by Ghana's first president,
Kwame Nkrumah, and grew rapidly after the construction of a large harbor in 1961. The Tema
metropolis
A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications.
A big city b ...
was designed, planned and developed by the award-winning
urban planner and Ghana's first
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
,
Theodore S. Clerk. The design team included a number of architects trained in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
at the
Architectural Association. It is now a major trading center, home to an
oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...
and numerous factories, and is linked to Accra by a highway and railway. Tema is one of Ghana's two deep seaports, the other being
Sekondi-Takoradi.
Tema became an Autonomous Council in 1974 and was elevated to the status of a Metropolitan Assembly in December 1990. Tema metropolitan forms part of the sixteen Metropolis, Municipalities and Districts in the
Greater Accra Region. The Metropolitan shares boundaries with
Ashaiman Municipal,
Adenta Municipal District, and
Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal District to the west respectively, to the east with
Kpone Katamanso District, to the North with
Dangme West District and to the South with the Gulf of Guinea.
History
Tema was built on the site of a small fishing village called Torman, named for the local name of the
calabash plant, Tor, which was cultivated there. "Tema" is derived from a corruption of "Torman". The government identified the site before
independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
, and in 1952 acquired of land north of the harbor, which was entrusted to the
Tema Development Corporation for the new industrial and residential development. The villagers of Torman migrated to a new fishing ground around away, which they called Newtown.
["Poverty In The Mist of Riches"](_blank)
. GhanaWeb.com. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
The main Tema Township was constructed, and the
Tema Harbour officially opened, in 1962. Over the following decades, Tema grew into the industrial hub of Ghana, with a carefully constructed road layout featuring landscaping and street lights. It boasted modern recreational centres and other social amenities rare among African cities at the time.
President Nkrumah appointed Theophilus Asiaw Mills as the first District Commissioner. The importance of Tema as a port and industrial hub is reflected by the fact that the
Ghana Police Service maintains a special policing region devoted entirely to the city.
A large population influx began in the 1960s owing to the town's employment opportunities, but the Tema Development Corporation was unable to construct housing and provide other services to meet the needs of the migrants.
[Tema](_blank)
. OT Africa Line. Retrieved 9 March 2013. The Tema Newtown district was overwhelmed by the sudden population growth, and became the poor cousin of Tema Township, receiving none of the latter's improved housing, geometrically laid roads, or social amenities. Moreover, royalties paid by Tema Newtown's companies to evicted villagers have not been used due to a chieftaincy dispute. The area's fishing potential was thus not fully exploited.
Climate
Tema is characterised by a
hot semi-arid climate (''BSh'' under the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
). It lies in the driest part of southern Ghana, experiencing average annual rainfall of about . Average temperatures are very warm to hot year-round, typically exceeding every day of the year, whilst minima never typically fall under .
Economy
Industry

The town's chief industrial products include aluminium, steel, processed fish, refined petroleum, textile, chemicals, food products, and cement.
Major companies operating in Tema include
Volta Aluminium (VALCO),
Tema Oil Refinery (TOR),
Nestlé Ghana Ltd., Wahome Steel Ltd,
Tema Shipyard.
There is also a
free zone enclave in Tema.
Seaport
Tema Port, which was opened in 1962, is the biggest of the two seaports in Ghana. In 2020 a $1.5 billion expansion project to increase container output to 3 million
TEU was completed. The port is currently one of the largest container ports in Africa. It has a water-enclosed area of and a total land area of . Apart from handling Ghanaian imports and exports, it is also a traffic junction, dealing with transit cargo destined for the landlocked countries of
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
,
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
and
Niger
Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
. The port of Tema handles 80% of Ghana's import and export cargo, including the country's chief export,
cacao.
The port has of
breakwaters, 12 deepwater berths, an outsize
oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...
berth, a dockyard, warehouses, and transit sheds. The port has open and covered areas for the storage of cargo, including a paved area for the storage of containers, steel products and other conventional cargo. The port's container yard is capable of holding over 8,000 TEUs at any given time. The closed storage area, which is about in area, consists of six sheds with a total storage capacity of 50,000 tonnes of cargo. The port also includes a 100,000
dwt dry dock and slipway facility.
[Tema](_blank)
. Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority. Retrieved 9 March 2013. The harbour is operated by the
Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority.
Fishing harbor
Ghana has a long history of fishing. The Tema fishing harbour is at the eastern end of the town's commercial harbour. It comprises the Inner Fishing Harbour, the
Canoe
A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles.
In British English, the term ' ...
Basin, the Outer Fishing Harbour, and a commercial area with marketing and cold storage facilities.
The Inner Fishing Harbour was constructed along the Tema Main Port in 1962 to provide a handling facility for semi-industrial and industrial fishing vessels, and to encourage the development of the local
fishing industry. In 1965, the Outer Fishing Harbour was constructed for bigger industrial vessels such as
trawlers,
tuna vessels, and deep-sea carriers.
The trawlers operating in the area are long and are able to land 55–65 tonnes of fish (usually
redfish and club and scad
mackerel) per fishing trip. The tuna vessels range from smaller boats around in length, able to land 200–250 tonnes of catch, to larger versions with a length of and the ability to land up to 650 tonnes per fishing trip.
The largest fishing vessels, the deep-sea carriers (with lengths of ), are mostly
chartered vessels.
Since 1984, the national catch has averaged about 200,000 to 300,000 metric tonnes per annum. Ghana's tuna catch has maintained a stable level of 30,000 tonnes per annum since 1981.
The Canoe Basin caters for the
artisanal fishermen. The basin is normally occupied by about 400
canoe
A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles.
In British English, the term ' ...
s. These are mainly two types: wooden vessels, locally called "Legelege", and metallic vessels. The wooden canoes have lengths over all (
LOA) ranging between , mainly owned and operated by
indigenous Ghanaians.
Their operations peak during the months of June–September. Artisanal canoe fishing is responsible for about 70% of the catch.
Development
The Tema Development Corporation (TDC) is a
public entity tasked with the planning and
development of the entire city of Tema.
Affordable public housing was developed by the government in conjunction with TDC and the State Housing Corporation.
The corporation has been instrumental in developing the
harbour area of Tema in particular, with modern housing.
The corporation was set up in 1952 with the sole aim to develop and manage the township of Tema. In 1963, the ''Tema Development Corporation Act'' was passed.
In recent years the corporation has had much investment from
Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
, including plans, as of 2013, to build a new stadium, an idea which proved unpopular with squatters.
The first chief executive officer of the corporation was
Theodore S. Clerk, the first Ghanaian architect and award-winning
urban planner who served in the
CEO position from 1963 after the enactment of the statute, until 1965.
Transportation
There are Public Transports from Tema to major cities such as
Kumasi
Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...
;
Accra
Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...
;
Mim, Ahafo ;
Cape Coast,
Sunyani;
Takoradi;
Tamale;
Ho;
Wa;
Bolgatanga;
Elubo;
Aflao,
Techiman.
Education
SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College (SOS-HGIC), a private mixed
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...
catering to the 10th through 13th grades, is located in Tema. It previously used the
International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) for the 10th and 11th grades and the
International Baccalaureate (IB) for the 12th and 13th grades, but currently runs the full IB Diploma program for all four grades. The school was headed by Margaret Nkrumah for over 15 years, and is now headed by Mr Israel Titi Ofei and Nii Amaa Akita.
Tema also has an
international school,
Tema International School (TIS), which is second to HGIC, and a senior high school,
Tema Secondary School (TSS or Temasco), which was built on 22 September 1961. Tema has a number of public secondary schools such as
Chemu Senior High School in
Community 4,
Tema Methodist Day School, Mahean Senior High School,
Our Lady of Mercy Senior High School and Tema Technical Institute.
Private preparatory schools include Creator Schools, St Paul Methodist Primary and JHS, Marbs Preparatory School, Datus Complex, Deks Educational Institute, Naylor SDA School, Tema Christian Centre, Tema Parents Association, First Baptist School, Tema Regular Baptist School, Queen Esther School, Dorsons School, Adwenie Memorial, Creator School, New Covenant School, St Alban's School, Lorenz Wolf School, Bexhill School Complex, Life International School, Mazon Grace Academy, Santabarbera School, Angels Specialist School, First Star Academy, Pentecost School, Star School Complex, Tema Ridge, St John Bosco School and Rosharon Montessori School.
Public primary and junior high schools in Tema include Twedaase Primary School, Star School, Aggrey Road School, Republic Road School, Padmore School, Mante Din Drive, Amen Basic, Manhean SDA School, and Bethel Methodist School.
Twin cities
Notable people
*
Jewel Ackah - musician
*
Freddy Adu - footballer
*
Mary Ghansah - gospel musician
*
Nii Okai - gospel musician
*
Sarkodie - rapper
*
Eric Ocansey, footballer
References
External links
Ghana-pedia webpage – TemaLatest Tema Ghana News
{{Authority control
Populated places in the Greater Accra Region
1952 establishments in Gold Coast (British colony)
Towns in Ghana
Towns in Africa