Ghana’s Dream of a Cathedral Turned Into an ‘Expensive Pit’

The walls surrounding Ghana’s national cathedral are made of aging plywood, while its spires are yellow construction cranes that have not moved in years. The cathedral frequently reverberates with the singing of frogs that move in whenever the cathedral’s foundations fill with rainwater. Nana Akufo-Addo, Ghana’s former president, spent approximately $58 million of public money on the $400 million cathedral project. Ghana’s new finance minister said in March that the country’s economy was in “severe distress.” The cathedral was designed by David Adjaye, the celebrity architect. Privately, many inhabitants of Ghana feel that a cathedral is not what the nation needs at this time. Subscribe here for detailed, incisive analysis delivered right to your inbox every morning.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/world/africa/ghana-cathedral-christian-corruption-hole.html