Technology is changing the way of life in cities across the world, and Accra is no exception.

Gone are the days of long queues, traffic, and stress. When you need to get somewhere fast, you pick up your phone and open up your Uber app. Sending money to your grandmother in the village, pick up your phone and do a quick MoMo transfer. Craving some good roadside waakye with wele, egg, salad and all the trimmings? Now you can pick up your phone and order for that waakye you have been craving, at a price that will not break the bank!

Ordering food online has become the “go to” option for most city dwellers especially, and the craze is rapidly expanding across many areas in the major cities.

Restaurant owners are realizing the importance of having delivery systems and being able to offer online ordering services to cater for the growing consumer base, who have less time to spare on restaurant visits. So local restaurants have had to whittle out valuable space dedicated solely to fulfilling those online orders. “If someone wants to stay home and get great steak, we want to be able to deliver that!”. Restaurant Manager at Sai Wine and Champagne Café at Labone stated.

Furthermore, the consistent upgrades in e-payment systems, such as mobile money and online bank payment options, make the process even easier for many individuals.

If you’re wondering whether online food ordering is going to replace our traditional restaurant visits, then the answer is a blatant ‘No’. It’s hard to beat the experience of being treated to a warm reception by waiters, the cool ambience, the smile we try to hide when the food is approaching and that short moment of reluctance to spoil the garnishing of the meal as you prepare to dig in.

But expansion in the restaurant industry is coming from the foodies who are dining at home. City folks are increasingly ordering food through mobile apps and online platforms. And the resultant demand for deliveries from sit-down restaurants, as well as the more familiar fast-food chains, is dramatically transforming the industry.

Although some pundits have expressed concern that online food ordering service tends to be associated with highly-rated restaurants that charge exorbitant prices, that assertion is changing.

For instance, one of the country’s leading online food ordering platform, Jumia Food, has introduced a new initiative, Cheap Chow, which is targeted at getting more local food vendors to be enlisted and made available at relatively affordable prices, to foodies.

The challenge has always been that local food vendors tend to shy away from being enlisted on food ordering platforms because they consider it as complicated and meant for tech-savvy folks. Mr. Samuel Amui who recently listed Kenkey Vylla, which specializes in Millet Kenkey for heavy breakfast and lunch, said, “we have been trying our best to add other channels like selling in traffic at the city’s busiest streets but you can’t beat the lower cost option of just listing on a good Food Delivery App or Online. You just become available to thousands of potential customers at the click of a button.”