The Grand Marché is the commercial heart of Lomé, a vast multi-storey market that has been the city's economic engine for most of a century. It is run predominantly by the famous Nana Benz — the market women who built fortunes trading Dutch wax-print textiles in the 1960s and 1970s, becoming one of the most powerful business communities in West Africa.
You will find Dutch wax fabrics — the iconic, expensive prints that are still the marker of social status in much of the region — on the upper floors, with spices, household goods, traditional medicine and food stalls filling the labyrinth of alleys below. It is loud, colourful and overwhelming in the best possible way. Go in the morning when the energy is highest, and bring small denominations of CFA francs.