meQasa Home » Accra Metropolis »

Osu Locality Profile

Apart from its quiet residential parts, Osu boasts one of Accra's most vibrant business districts. Living here, there's hardly ever a boring moment.

Osu is located directly east of Accra Central, is bordered by the sea (The Gulf of Guinea) to the south; and neighboured by Cantonments and Labone to the north; and Labadi to the east.
There are nice quiet neighbourhoods within this locality suitable for raising a family in or for young single people as well. Rent is a little on the high side, possibly due to the proximity of so many businesses. A single room with a porch for instance, could go for as high as upwards of GH₵600 per month but you may still find an apartment for rent in Osu that suits you. Osu is famous for its always-active business district: the Oxford Street and it's vibrant nightlife.

Local Life

This is a very quiet and friendly neighbourhood. The residents are quite amiable and open to talk most of the time during the day (Nyaniba Estates, anyway) if you are lucky enough to meet any outside the walls of their houses and mostly low-rise apartments. Expats live here too, mainly Asians. Roads are well maintained, intersperse the entire neighbourhood and are relatively clear most of the time with lots of taxis servicing the area. A trip from one end of the neighbourhood to the other currently would cost around GH¢5.00. To get access to cheaper public transport (trotros), you would have to go stand near Koala on the Oxford street or to the SSNIT Hospital where they have stops.

Business

Osu's Oxford Street houses one of Ghana's most vibrant business districts. Electronics, household decorations, food and ice cream, clothes (local and exotic), etc are sold and marketed here and with lots of variety too. There are also banks on hand to refill your pockets if you run out of cash. Small scale business within the residential part of Osu, leans heavily toward the food and entertainment industries. A small fashion business owner complained that people seem so much more interested in eating and partying than patronising other businesses such as hers. Though the real reason may be due to the fact that most people only emerge from the walls of their homes at night for some fun; when they are hungry; or on their way to some other parts of the city and country; and so, are very unlikely to notice business establishments whose services they are not, at those moments, considering. There is a great number of drinking spots, eateries (Frankie's, Livingstone Safari Restaurant, Haveli [Indian Cuisine], Papaye [Fast Food], Asanka Locals[Traditional/Local Ghanaian Cuisine], Noble House Restaurant [Indian and Chinese Cuisine]), entertainment centres (Republic Bar & Grill, Osu Mall, etc), nightclubs (Duplex, Tantra, etc) and many more such businesses that fall within the food and entertainment industries. Much more detailed information can be found here.

Most of the telecommunications providers have offices located around here (mainly on the Oxford street) and have really good reception, though some vendors in Nyaniba Estates complain that their customers, sometimes, have difficulty getting their recharge vouchers accepted when they try recharging within the estates. If you are interested in Osu for the location of your own business, you can find some office spaces for rent in Osu on meQasa.

Security

Security-wise, some parts of Osu, especially towards Ako Adjei is said to be less than safe at night, especially on holidays, when people are sure to be carrying money and valuables on them as they “paint the town red” and inadvertently attract the attentions of pickpockets and robbers. Other parts, like Nyaniba Estates are relatively safer since they have some amount of police presence at random times.