While in Ghana this summer, I spent a couple days reconnoitering a remarkable neighborhood of Kumasi called Magazine. It’s a district of the city given over entirely to car mechanics and their parts suppliers. I haven’t found an official tally but I was given estimates of between 10,000-15,000 people working in the area, which is far better organized, and less chaotic, than it first appears.

Enterprising brokers bring in wrecks and write-offs from all over the world (often taking the vehicles off the hands of insurance companies who recoup a few more bucks than if they’d sold them for scrap), and the mechanics of Magazine make them road-worthy once again. Stripping them down and starting all over again, recycling or repairing every stray part or component that can be salvaged.

The entire global auto industry flows through Magazine—from Indian Tatas and Korean Hyundais to Italian Fiats and German Volkswagens. One broker said it usually takes no more than six months for the latest model of any vehicle to find its way to Magazine. As long as it takes, basically, for one of them to wind up in an accident.

And here you will find every variety of vehicle, from the familiar Bluebird school buses and flatbed trucks to luxury sedans, long-haul rigs and mini-vans.

The cars rebuilt here wind up all over Africa, and it’s probably the largest assemblage of its kind on the continent. Many of Magazine’s “new” cars are Frankenstein contraptions, sometimes obviously so but often not, bearing parts of divergent provenance. That may look like a brand new Mercedes but who knows where every part inside came from?

There’s a long history behind the neighborhood. As Kumasi was the seat of the Ashanti kingdom, the city was divided into sectors according to skilled trades. Magazine was home to the blacksmiths and weapons-makers. And still today, it’s a poorly kept rumour that Magazine is where one goes to acquire a gun.

I’ll post more on Magazine soon, but I will say that many of the mechanics here have managed to make a very decent living for themselves. Several older gents I spoke with managed to put their kids through university, and buy shops to give their wives something to do. It’s a largely improvised, self-regulating neighborhood that demands further study, especially when we talk about local models of development that can work for Africa.