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Economic and Infrastructural Impact
As of this Wednesday January 8th, we have confirmed that 8,890 stalls were destroyed. This was done by coordinating records with section leaders.

With many stalls being occupied by more than one person we can confidently state that over 10,000 people have been impacted. This includes secondhand clothing retailers, tailors, upcyclers, food vendors, storage stall operators, security guards, market leaders and women working as kayayei (female head porters).

As our team was already conducting a census and had mapped much of the market with leadership, we can confirm the square footage and percentage of the market that was destroyed. 33,632 square meters of the market were burnt to the ground. This is equivalent to 60% of the market (not including what spills over into the streets). The sections that survived include the old storage and notions section along with sections where thousands of upcyclers, remanufacturers and tailors work.

While we cannot give you an exact estimate on Financial Loss at this moment, we are currently collecting this information as part of our relief effort and we can confidently tell you that tens of millions of dollars were lost in equipment, bales of secondhand clothing, infrastructure and other supplies. The Kantamanto community spends over $300M USD on bales every year, over half of which is paid to the Global North exporters.

Emergency and Medical Support
Since January 3rd, our team has established tents in the market where, in addition to first aid, we are providing water, other refreshments, shade and masks. At these tents, the majority of retailers express concern about their blood pressure and respiratory health.

Our medical team has attended to over 500 people in the market. We have seen multiple cases of head injuries including that of a young woman working as a kayayo. We have provided tetanus shots to 8 people who have suffered lacerations.

We have transported several individuals to the hospital and we are performing follow-ups and covering healthcare costs.

We have supplied face masks for over 3,000 individuals. We are providing water and other beverages to over 2,500 people on a daily basis. While we are sourcing some supplies outside of the market to secure items in bulk, we are also purchasing whole pans of water and beverages from market vendors & paying them to distribute these items for free. We will continue to make every effort possible to source supplies from within the market ecosystem.

Our Ecological Research and Remediation team members, who routinely sample for microfiber pollution, have been taking water, air, ash and human spit samples to help us gauge long term impact on environmental and human health. Sampling is ongoing and we will share the results publicly after we share this information with the Kantamanto community.

For context, our first report from our Kantamanto Healthcare Outreach program indicates that 53% of participants have hypertension. In a survey conducted to inform our Kantamanto Healthcare Outreach program, 73% of retailers stated that Kantamanto’s air quality has negatively impacted their health. In our most recent round of surveys reaching over 300 retailers in November 2024, 98% of retailers stated that they do not have access to healthcare.

As this is the baseline before the fire, we expect hundreds more will require medical support in the coming weeks.

Direct Relief
Our goal is to distribute direct relief to all 10,000+ individuals who have lost their space.

We have digitized records from all of the 10 sections that were destroyed. Our data collection team has already verified and spoken to over 1,500 of these individuals.

We are set up to begin distribution on Monday. Our team has worked with market leadership to develop a plan for collecting any missing data next week.

For those in Accra, we may open this process up to volunteers. Please stay tuned.

Rebuild
The Or Foundation has already distributed 1 Million GHS to the rebuild. This was done during a public press conference to ensure transparency across the market.

Our team, including an architect, construction engineer and trained urban planner, are working hand in hand with market leadership to ensure that fire safety is incorporated into the rebuild.

We have met with the Electricity Company of Ghana and the Ghana National Fire Service about this plan and we have established a timeline for completing a detailed geographical map and architectural guide by next week to inform this plan. Much of this community organizing and planning work was underway with our team prior to the fire, but the crisis has accelerated timelines significantly and created the challenge of balancing immediate needs with long range visioning.

While working most closely with market leadership, we have kept the AMA and GUCDA informed of our efforts to ensure alignment.

You Can Support
Nearly our entire full-time and part-time team, totaling over 100 people, is dedicated to this effort. You can support in the following ways:

For those in Accra, we are accepting donations of the following:

• Water sachets
• Ice chests
• Construction Hard Hats and Goggles

We need to onboard at least two additional medical personnel. If you are a certified nurse or paramedic based in Accra, and would like to volunteer for a four hour shift, please DM us.

We have committed an initial $1Million USD and are actively fundraising to ensure we can provide this direct relief holistically in a meaningful amount. You can donate to supplement our efforts:

• Momo: +233(0)559852625
• Donorbox: kantamanto.theor.org

Please note that all donations received at this time will be directed to this relief effort and will not overlap with our programmatic funding. 100% of funds contributed will go directly to the Kantamanto Community in support of the relief efforts.

Please reach out to giving@theor.org if you would like to make a larger donation or if you would like to commit to matching donations.