Centre de Promotion de l'Artisanat
Cotonou
Here you'll find woodcarvings, bronzes, batiks, leather goods, jewellery and appliqué banners.
Must-see shopping in West Africa
Accra
Situated near the airport and easily reachable from all sides of the city, Marina Mall features 45 outlets across three floors, including designer fashion…
Dakar
For a slice of local life, put on your best 'don't mess with me' face and head over to this buzzing market, which sprawls for several blocks off Ave…
Serekunda & Atlantic Coast Resorts
Just off the busy highway, this open-air market has dozens of stalls where you can browse carvings, jewellery, clothing, baskets, tapestries and other…
Conakry
The hectic, noisy sprawl of Marché Madina is where you get everything from Chinese homewares to indigo cloth, and sometimes a lost copy of Plato between…
Bissau
Everything from fresh cherry tomatoes to oysters to black-and-white cloth embroidered with the image of Amílcar Cabral is for sale at Bissau's main market…
Libreville
The M'bolo complex is Libreville's biggest shopping centre, with lots of small shops and one large Casino supermarket selling food and just about anything…
Bissau
Diagonally across from Ta Mar Restaurant is Cabaz di Terra, which stocks Guinean throws, handbags and jewellery. Part of the store is devoted to…
Bissau
Not only a good place to shop (prices are actually marked and there's no pressure to buy), but also a fine introduction to the arts and crafts of Guinea…
Abidjan
The Marché de Treichville is an ugly, Chinese-built building, but inside it's African to the core and incredibly well stocked, from food to household…
Kumasi
Kumasi City Mall was under construction at the time of writing and is set to open in mid-2017. The mall – the biggest in the country – contains a…
São Tomé
Small but varied clearinghouse for local agricultural souvenirs (chocolate, coffee, spices, jams etc) and a few crafts. Located opposite the light blue…
São Tomé
Charity souvenir shop offering the full range of agricultural products (banana products, vanilla, coconut sugar...), a few simple crafts and some colorful…
Guinea-Bissau
The lively market in the small town of Canchungu is worth a stop when travelling to/from Cacheu – pick up some hand-woven baskets before moving on.
Monrovia
This cluster of craft vendors on the hilltop above the US embassy offers a mix of masks, clothing and other trinkets. It's a good place for bargains.
Nouakchott
You'll find a bit of everything at Marché Capitale, including brass teapots, silver jewellery, traditional wooden boxes and colourful fabrics.
Cotonou
This bookshop is next to the cathedral, and has an excellent selection of books on Benin (in French) and maps of Cotonou and Benin.
Sierra Leone
Crammed with fruit and vegetable stalls, street food vendors and second-hand clothes, this is one of the city's busiest markets.
Monrovia
Has a colourful range of clothing with African prints (many of them locally sewn), laptop bags, purses, souvenirs and jewellery.
Nouakchott
A handful of small shops line the street here selling wooden boxes with silver inlays, daggers and jewellery.
Cotonou
A smart bookshop which stocks the latest periodicals, maps and some photography books on West Africa.
Lagos
There are some good crafts on offer including carvings, calabashes and some unfortunate animals' skins.
Rio Muni
This small shack has a range of African souvenirs such as carved wooden figurines, masks and beads.
Lagos
The rambling maze of Balogun Market is excellent for clothes and fabric from across West Africa.
Sierra Leone
This small collection of stalls sells everything from second-hand clothes to cooking equipment.
Dakar
Handy bookstore in the Plateau with a small selection of titles in English.
Lomé
At this easy-going centre you'll see Togolese artisans weaving cloth, carving statues, making baskets and lampshades, sewing leather shoes and…
Libreville
You'll find Gabonese souvenirs here, though choose carefully as most of the goods (and the merchants) are imports. Haggling is recommended, and you may be…
Ouagadougou
For real Burkinabé textiles and custom-made outfits in the traditional local style, check out this tiny, family-run shop. You can choose your cloth and…
Abidjan
This fantastic art gallery and shop is run by an Ivoirian art historian. You can view and buy paintings, sculptures and jewellery from all over the…
Abidjan
This is part of a highly regarded West African group that sells quality wax textiles and some ready-made clothing. Great for gifts.
Abidjan
A shopping centre containing a range of stores, including the revered Hypermarché Sococé.
Lomé
Sells maps and, occasionally, English publications, such as the International Herald Tribune and Time magazine.
Côte d'Ivoire
You can find West African woodwork here, such as dishes, masks and small wooden sculptures. There is also jewellery and textiles.
Côte d'Ivoire
Great for souvenir shopping – choose from woodwork, jewellery, hand-painted tablecloths and some local artwork.
Cotonou
For quality Dutch wax fabric, head to Woodin, where demi-pièces (6m of material) start at CFA17,000.
