Country Ghana District Nzema East Municipal | Region Western Region Time zone GMT | |
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Axim is a coastal town and the capital of Nzema East Municipal district, a district in Western Region of South Ghana. Axim lies 64 kilometers west of the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi in Western Region to the west of Cape Three Points. Axim has a 2013 settlement population of 27,719 people.
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History
This area was occupied by the Nzema people.
The Portuguese arrived by the early 16th century as traders. They built a prominent seaside fort, Fort Santo Antonio, in 1515. They exported some Africans as slaves to Europe and the Americas. Between 1642 and 1872, the fort was expanded and altered by the Dutch, who "ruled" during that period. The fort, now property of Ghana, is open to the public. Off-shore are some picturesque islands, including one with a lighthouse.
Axim structure
The town of Axim is divided into two parts: Upper Axim and Lower Axim. Fort Santo Antonio lies roughly on the division between the two parts, but closest to the centre of Upper Axim, the original European settlement. Here, several large mansions of lumber-trading magnates and other businessmen remain from the late 19th century and period of the British empire. Axim is governed by a political District Executive of the Nzema East Municipality.
Economy
The economy is based mainly on Axim's fishing fleet, but the area also has two tourist beach resorts as well as coconut and rubber plantations. The scenic and fertile terrain features many palm trees. Local artisanal miners pan for gold in streams inland from Axim.
Axim has a transport station, two major bank branches, and some rural banks.
Culture
Every August, the major festivals of Kundum takes place, coinciding with the best fishing-catch of the year; people come to Axim for the festivities and to fish and trade.
Miscellany
A native of Axim, Anton Wilhelm Amo (1703–1756), qualifies as the first Western black philosopher, that is, specifically, the first black African to receive a philosophical education in Europe and to publish philosophical works there and in Germany, he published "The Rights of Moors" (among other works) and taught philosophy at the University of Jena.
Kwame Nkrumah, first President of Ghana and a prominent intellectual of his era, was born in the small village of Nkroful, located just west of Axim and in the 1930s, Nkrumah worked as headmaster of a Catholic school in Axim and led an intellectual circle there.