Akwasi Agyeman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Tourism Authority has shared the significant role the ‘Year of Return’ played in reconnecting Africans in the diaspora to their roots.
In an interview with Pap Jay on Y102.5 FM’s Myd Morning Show, Akwasi Agyeman emphasized that the “Year of Return” initiative, was a pivotal moment in connecting Ghanaians to their roots.
This was achieved through the commemoration of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans back home which reconnected the African diaspora to their ancestral roots.
“We used our tourist sites as a tool to reconnect to the global African family,” Agyeman explained.
“We have a growing population of African Americans and Caribbeans and a lot of money is being spent by Black Africans in travel and tourism. But, they would often go to Disney, France, and other places. The connection back home wasn’t strong, so the initiative was the opportunity to leverage and create that bond.”
The CEO further highlighted the success of the ‘Year of Return’ in attracting visitors and boosting Ghana’s tourism industry.
“The tourism industry that has really been beneficial,” he said. “Ghana is now seen as a homeland and the place to be and you need to come through Ghana to the rest of Africa.”
The Year of Return, Ghana 2019 is an initiative of the government of Ghana – along with the U.S.-based Adinkra Group – that is intended to encourage African diasporans to come to Africa (specifically Ghana) to settle and invest in the continent, part of the Blaxit movement.
It was formally launched by President Nana Akufo-Addo in September 2018 in Washington, D.C. as a program for Africans in the diaspora to unite with Africans.
The year 2019 is symbolic as it commemorates 400 years since the first enslaved Africans touched down in Hampton, in the English colony of Virginia in America.
