Welcome to Ghana, where the funerals are gigantic parties

ACCRA, Ghana — Benjamin Aidoo has brought his dancing pallbearers to more than 200 funerals in Ghana, easing loved ones to their final resting places to the strains of anything from reggae to gospel music. "Customers say, 'Papa loved dancing when he was alive, let him dance more one time'," said Aidoo, 27, who charges as much as 800 cedis ($387) a ceremony. "This is a new business where we dance the coffin to the grave instead of marching solemnly." Aidoo founded his business in 2010 and is now having to turn customers away. Funerals, among Ghana's most important social events, are placing growing financial demands on the country's expanding middle class as a fashion for extravagant ceremonies leads to calls for restraint An oil production-led boom boosted economic growth to 15.9 percent in 2011 from 3.1 percent in 2007 and increased gross national income per capita almost fivefold to $1,550 over the last decade. In addition to entrepreneurs like Aidoo, the country's biggest insurers including Enterprise Life and SIC Insurance Co. are benefiting, said Anastacia Arko, an analyst at Accra-based Databank Financial Services. Stretching over days, funeral ceremonies, typically called celebrations in Ghana, involve church services, receptions and

burials. Families spend thousands of cedis on food and drink, shaded seating, a disc jockey or band, traditional drummers, brochures, posters, photographers and often, a videographer capturing mourners filing by the casket. "Our funerals have become a big drain on families," said Vicky Wireko, who writes the 'Reality Zone' column for the biggest selling Daily Graphic newspaper, which has classified pages filled every day with full-color obituaries that list "chief mourners" and far-flung relatives. "No wonder families are turning to the banks to seek funds." While traditionally relatives have contributed to meet funeral costs, those donations are no longer enough and insurance companies are stepping in to cover the gap. "When the burden to finance funerals became so high that people be continued