Graveyard For Dead Computers, Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana

In the 1850s, the Dutch sold Christiansborg and their other castles to the British. In 1873, after decades of an uneasy relationship between the British and the Asante people of central Ghana, the British attacked and virtually destroyed the Asante capital of Kumasi, and officially declared Ghana a crown colony. The British then captured Accra in 1874, and in 1877, at the end of the second Anglo-Asante War, Accra replaced Cape Coast as the capital of the British Gold Coast colony because Accra had a drier climate relative to Cape Coast, and was not home to the tsetse fly hence allowing the use animal transport. Until this time, the settlement of Accra was confined between the Ussher Fort to the East and the Korle Lagoon to the West.
One of the most influential decisions in the history of the city was that of building the Accra-Kumasi railway in 1908. This was to connect Accra, the major port at that time, with Ghana's main cocoa producing regions. In 1923, the railway was completed and by 1924 cocoa was Ghana's largest export. Accra was the main exporter of cocoa until 1928 and this was one of the main reasons for its rapid growth. Piped water was yet another factor that drew in many migrants from rural areas in 1915. Accra prospered during the 1920s, and this has been associated with the influence of the governorship of Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg who had several changes done such as building a bridge across the Korle Lagoon in 1923, opening the land west of the lagoon for settlement, and building hospitals and schools. This led to an increase of Accra’s population due to migration of rural people into the city, and the immigration of increasing numbers of European businessmen and administrators. Large areas were destroyed by earthquakes in 1862 and 1939, but the city grew around a seaport (now relocated to Tema), and later a brewery, expanding into neighbouring towns. During the post-WWII era more administrative, commercial buildings including a massive judicial/administrative complex were built.