From cash to content: the rise of the money bouquet

Graduation season now comes with its own accessories, and the loudest one is the money bouquet. You see it everywhere. On Instagram, tiktok and at ceremonies. People walk around holding bundles of folded cedi notes shaped into flowers, wrapped in plastic, tied with ribbons. Sometimes the bouquet gets more attention than the graduate. Sometimes it gets more pictures than the certificate. What makes it wild is how normal it has become. Money bouquets are no longer just gifts. They are products. They are being advertised, priced, and sold like luxury items. At the GH Media School graduation, I watched a vendor sell a money bouquet made with one-cedi notes. The total value of the money was 20 cedis. The selling price was 150 cedis. Not because the money increased. Not because it multiplied. Simply because it had been folded nicely and made to look good. And people buy it without blinking. Vendors move confidently through graduation grounds. Friends compete over who shows up with the biggest bouquet. Cameras come out. Videos go up. Comments hype the “effort.” Nobody talks about the fact that money is being bent, folded, sprayed, and resold at a markup. The logic is simple. If it looks good online, it makes sense. At least for now. Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana has been trying to get people to pause. This is not a new warning. Back in March 2023, the Bank, through its Currency Department, cautioned the public against using currency for decorative purposes. The Director of the Currency Department at the time, Dominic Owusu, stated clearly that such practices amounted to currency defacement and were illegal. The message did not land. The trend kept growing. Now, with money bouquets resurfacing loudly during graduation season and ahead of Valentine’s Day, the Bank has repeated itself. Governor Johnson Asiamah has reiterated that the cedi is legal tender meant for transactions and as a store of value, not for decoration, resale, or display. Folding, stapling, spraying, or reshaping currency notes damages them and shortens their lifespan. The law backing this is straightforward. The Bank of Ghana Act, 2002 (Act 612) criminalizes the mutilation and improper use of currency. The Bank has warned that vendors who continue to make and sell money bouquets, as well as buyers who promote the practice, risk sanctions. Trends thrive on attention. The law does not care about aesthetics. At some point, the hype has to answer to that reality.