The traffic tells the story, but let your love, and not loan, lead, says Bernard Otabil.
If you drove through Accra today, you would have felt the Christmas fever setting in, with the roads already experiencing the familiar traffic jams associated with the festive season.
I left Spintex at 6:30 a.m. for a meeting at the UPSA Auditorium on Thursday, October 15, and by 7:15 a.m. the N1 was already thick.
It was nearly bumper-to-bumper on the motorway, and the stretch from Tetteh Quarshie roundabout ( Accra Mall) to the Airport was crawling.
Drivers were jostling, private cars were honking, and Okada riders were weaving through as if Christmas had already arrived.
This was not normal October traffic. This is Christmas traffic developing three months early.
And when you step into the market centres, I guess the fever would be even louder. With this traffic, Makola must be extremely busy; Kantamanto traders must also be displaying "X'mas Last Price" bales! What I am hoping to see too is Abossey Okai spare parts dealers offering "Christmas offers."
When you listen to the radio too, you hear all these reports about traders stocking up for Christmas “so the dollar is under pressure.”
At Makola and Agbogbloshie, the early Christmas hampers are already stacked. Biscuits from Turkey, cooking oil, rice from Thailand, toys from China, etc., are or will be available for Christmas.
The vendors are right to start early because, to them, Christmas is high tempo, a final chance to close sales gaps, clear stock, and end the year in green. Everything must go.
But to you, the consumer sitting in that Accra traffic burning fuel, the question is different: Should your spending be high tempo or low tempo?
For years in this column I have said: let your disposable income determine your tempo. That is the ideal. But this year, the ideal is under heavy pressure, and the reason goes far beyond Accra traffic.
Let us look at what the global economy has done in the last nine months.
The IMF started this year projecting global growth of 3.3 per cent. By July, it cut it to 3.1 per cent. Not a recession, but a slowdown. Global inflation, which was supposed to cool to 3.8 per cent, is now projected at 4.4 per cent. In emerging markets, it is around 5.5 per cent.
Why? The same cocktail: renewed conflict in the Middle East pushing oil prices above $100 in stress scenarios, a new round of tariff wars, and interest rates that have stayed higher for longer.
As a consumer, do not fall for “Everything must go” schemes or the special “ Christmas discount".
Ask: Do I have enough savings to cover my expenses so that I don’t fall into debt this Christmas?
This is why the Buy-Now-Pay-Later fever scares me more this year than last year.
Today, credit is too easy. Banks, MoMo loans, fintech apps, "Pay Small Small", "Buy Now Pay Later". In traffic today, I heard an advert: "Take home a 65-inch TV now, pay in December." It sounds like it increases your disposable income when it actually mortgages your future income.
Buying now and paying later means you WILL still pay, as there is no free lunch.
Before you switch to high tempo because Makola is calling, take the Double Affordability Test I recommend this year:
Test 1: Can your purse TODAY carry it?
Test 2: Can your purse in January, February and March 2027 carry the debt when school fees, rent, and utility bills arrive?
If Test two fails, you are not buying a Christmas gift but rather buying January heartache when you spend that money.
Let me give you that reflective test I always share.
Have you ever wondered why you wake up at 4:00 a.m., even when your body is weak, to join that Accra traffic from Kasoa, Adenta, or Ashaiman to work? What happens if you don't work at all?
I know there are people looking for jobs who are supported by loved ones. But for most of us, we work because we need money for the basics - food, clothing, shelter. Once those are not covered, we feel completely naked in life.
So money is not evil. But how we chase it in December can become evil.
Let me paint the picture I saw last year, which is repeating already.
You are in Makola today, and the crowd is pushing. The trader says, "Last price; if you don't buy today, the price will go up tomorrow,” and you fall for the 48-inch TV on credit. Best intention.
January arrives, and the lender calls, but at the same time, your landlord says rent is up 10 per cent even as inflation is below that figure.
Instead of calling the lender to explain, you start avoiding calls. You borrow from another app to pay the first, and dangerously issue a dud cheque, which can get you banned from the banking system.
The facts are clear: You never started to cheat, but the poor financial choice made in October led you down a rough moral path. I have seen honest workers destroy their credit record, their peace, and their family trust because of one December they could not afford.
The last nine months of the global economy have made that path steeper. When your future income is worth less because of inflation, adding debt is like carrying a sack of gari uphill in Kaneshie traffic.
So, how do we keep the right tempo while the fever is rising?
Well, the markets and the traffic will keep a high tempo, but you must intentionally go low! This week, sit with your family and set a Christmas cash budget. Write it down. Tell your children, "We are doing presence, not expensive presents."
Embrace Ghana-Made. That traffic on the Accra-Kumasi road is partly imported trucks. With global tariffs high, Ghana-made gives you better value.
Let your hamper be local rice, local oil, local chocolate, local cloth, local shoes. It is cheaper, it lasts, and it keeps jobs here.
Apart from that, don’t borrow for soup! If you cannot buy food, drinks, and clothes with cash you have today, don't buy them with debt.
Debt, if at all, should be for an asset that puts money back in your pocket, not for a one-day feast that will be forgotten by December 26.
Be transparent with your loved ones. Call that relative you usually impress and say, "We are doing low-key this year, but with more love."
True love understands. The person who loves you does not need you to be stuck in debt to prove it.
The traffic I saw tells me Ghana is working. The busy markets tell me Ghana is trading. That is good. That’s one side of the story.
As I have said before, let us continue with the message of Salvation, Love, Hope and Peace. That is the true spirit of Christmas. Not the high tempo of spending, but the high tempo of love.
Change gear this Christmas. Shift from a festive season that always left your account in red in January, to one that leaves your heart in green.
The fever is approaching, the traffic will get heavier, and Makola will get louder. Let your love, not your loan, lead.
