Join us in this new episode from the podcast series of the project “Old Dog, New Tricks: Neocolonialism & Public-Private Partnerships in the Global South”, as we delve into the complex landscape of PPPs in Ghana.

Our hosts, feminist economist Corina Rodríguez Enríquez and international development expert Sue Godt will guide us through an in-depth conversation with feminist researchers Gertrude Dzifa Torvikey and Sylvia Ohene Marfo. They are the authors of the case study about public-private partnerships in Dome Market in Ghana’s capital, Accra. Their article inspired the film “The Women’s Market”, launched by DAWN this March and now streaming on YouTube.

In this engaging conversation, Dzifa Torvikey, a research fellow at the Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research at the University of Ghana and Program Officer for the Feminist Africa Journal, and Sylvia Ohene Marfo, a food studies researcher and Research and Program Manager for the Union for African Population Studies, provide a nuanced exploration of Ghana’s PPP experiences. They shed light on the historical context, the impact of PPPs on market women traders, and the broader implications for national development.

“Most of the PPP shops are occupied by people who were not part of the market at the beginning. And women who are displaced as a result of the PPP shops—very few of them are still in the market, most of them work selling in sheds or under umbrellas or whatever space they could find in front of other people’s shops. So it has really impacted the livelihood of the women who are displaced as a result of the PPP,” says Sylvia Ohene Marfo.

Through the lens of feminism, the dialogue touches upon the challenges faced by market women’s associations, the growing class differentiation within the market, and the need for alternative gender frameworks to address socio-economic inequalities exacerbated by neoliberal policies.

Tune in to this thought-provoking episode to deepen your understanding of PPP dynamics in Ghana and explore pathways towards transformative change through the power of grassroots activism.

This episode was produced by DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era), with editing by Alice Furtado and engineering by Ernesto Sena.