RouteLomé

Grand Marché & the Nana Benz Women Traders of Lomé

The Grand Marché is the heart of Lomé — famous for the Nana Benz, the powerful women fabric traders who built fortunes selling Dutch wax-print cloth and became icons of Togolese commerce

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1
Nana Benz Fabric Hall
The legendary Nana Benz women traders built textile empires selling wax-printed Dutch Vlisco fabric — their stalls in the Grand Marché are a master class in West African trade
2
Vlisco Wax Print Selection
Dutch wax printed fabric in hundreds of patterns is piled high at the fabric stalls — each pattern has a name and a story, and serious buyers spend hours making their choice
3
Voodoo Object Market
Part of the Grand Marché sells items for spiritual voodoo – skulls, feathers, dried herbs, powders and carved wooden objects for traditional medicine
4
Fresh produce Ground level
Female farmers sit on the ground surrounded by peppers, tomatoes, yams and cassava — the agricultural produce of Togo's interior sold fresh every morning
5
Mobile phone and electronics line
The market's electronics section sells imported phones, used laptops and charging equipment — the telecommunications infrastructure of West Africa's informal economy
6
Market Lunch: Riz Sauce Peanut
Street food vendors at the market serve peanut sauce with rice and grilled plantain — the West African working lunch eaten at plastic tables between stalls