NEW YORK, NY – [September 20, 2022] – Hon. Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture for Ghana, has announced the official opening of a Tourism and  cultural hub in New York to serve the North American Market and help  promote tourism to Ghana. He made the announcement at the Destination Ghana Networking event that was held in New York City on 18th September 2022.

The event, a collaboration of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, the Ghana Tourism Authority and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre brought together business leaders and leaders of the African diaspora community to network and learn more about the opportunities for tourism, business and investment in Ghana.  The event also served as an opportunity to engage with the community and learn more about what their needs were when travelling to Ghana.

“The U.S. is very important to Ghana in areas of culture and tourism,” Hon. Awal said.  The United States accounts for the largest number of tourists that visit Ghana annually, making them a significant place of marketing to Ghana. “We’re going to open a Cultural and Tourism office in New York next year to serve as the tool and vehicle to drive culture and tourism between the U.S. and Ghana. By March next year it will happen and I can assure you  that it will help facilitate all the issues of our tourism and culture.”

Members of the Ghanaian delegation included, Akwasi Agyeman, CEO of Ghana Tourism Authority, Yofi Grant, CEO, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Ekow Sampson, Deputy CEO, Ghana Tourism Authority, Annabelle McKenzie, Director, Beyond the Return Secretariat.

The event was graced by  Rocky Dawuni, Grammy-nominated artist, Barkue Tubman, Chief of Staff of Essence Communications, Jerry Adinkra , Cultural and Tourism Ambassador and  members of the Ghanaian and historical diaspora community. The event was well attended and also featured cultural performances.

“We are building a Ghana brand that will be a hub for tourism and culture in West Africa.

We need your support to build that Ghana brand and drive a lot of tourists from New York to Ghana every year,” Hon Awal said. The Consul General of the Ghana Mission in New York , Ambassador Atta Boafo assured the gathering that the processes of obtaining visas would be simplified and also addressed that Ghanaians abroad could use both their Ghana passport and U.S. passport when travelling to and from Ghana with ease.

Akwasi Agyeman, CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority highlighted the activities lined up for December in Ghana this year which includes Afrochella, Taste of Ghana,  AfroNation, Little Havanna, Detty Rave amongst others and invited the African Diaspora to be part of it.

The minister also assured everyone that important tourist sites are undergoing renovations and will be modernized to create a better travel experience. Earlier this year the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Museum were closed for renovations.  Hon. Awal said it will reopen next year.  “We will have a fully furnished and modernized Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park by March of next year, ” he said. “The museum is being expanded and refurbished.”

The minister’s announcement was part of the Destination Ghana Networking event in New York.  The Destination Ghana campaign was launched earlier this year in London, U.K. to promote Ghana as a tourism destination worldwide.  Hinged on the fact that Ghana is at the centre of the world, the campaign builds off the strength of Ghana’s Year of Return campaign which encouraged the diaspora to come to Ghana and helped boost international arrivals to over 1.1 million in 2019.

By: Ivy Prosper

The Ghana Tourism Authority, under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, has joined forces with one of the biggest cultural brands to come out of Ghana; Afrochella. Yesterday, the team behind Afrochella signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with Ghana Tourism Authority to continue promoting Ghana to the world through collaborative efforts that will encourage travellers to choose Ghana as their preferred holiday destination.

Afrochella has been a major event contributing to the growth of Ghana’s tourism industry and a changemaker when it comes to changing the narrative of Africa. The festival highlights the culture of Africa through music, art, fashion, food, dance and installations that promote all things Africa.

The Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Awal, said this partnership would not only serve to promote the fun and leisure activities and experiences, but also encourage opportunities for trade and investment in Ghana. “Since the inception of the Afrochella festival six years ago, you have demonstrated a lot and we know that you can achieve this target,” the minister said in reference to the team helping support the tourism ministry’s goal of 2 million tourists coming to Ghana annually. “Our current image alone makes people want to come into the country, so support us with your network to bring in these people to have fun, leisure, do business and invest.” The minister pledged to give the team the needed support to help achieve the targets.

Abdul Karim Abdulla, one of the co-founders of Afrochella expressed his appreciation for the support of the tourism ministry and Ghana Tourism Authority in their vision. “In 2019 we saw about 16, 500 people [attending Afrochella],” Abdulla said. He announced that this year the festival would be two days and have the goal of attracting 20, 000 attendees this time. “We have a series of events not only to get people to come back to Ghana, but to also invest themselves in Ghana, in the people of Ghana and in the community as well,” he told Minister Awal and CEO of Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwasi Agyeman. The other members of the Afrochella team include Ken Agyapong Jr., Edward Asafu Adjaye Kobina, Alvin Bekoe and Vernell Akyeampong.

After the official signing of the MoU, the team were inaugurated as official Goodwill Tourism Ambassadors for Ghana and decorated with the Beyond the Return official Kente sash by the minister. Everyone is looking forward to the positive impact that will come from this partnership in the coming years.

By: Ivy Prosper

The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, signed a historic partnership between the New York-based W.E.B. DuBois Foundation and the Ghanaian government to transform the current W.E.B. Dubois Centre into a modern state of the art museum and complex that would attract visitors and scholars from around the world. The agreement was signed in New York City on Monday September 20th, 2021 and gives the foundation permission to break ground and start building the new multi-million dollar facility.

The new museum will be designed by renowned Ghanaian architect, Sir David Adjaye, who also designed the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture located in Washington, D.C. It will feature a museum, outdoor auditorium and amphitheatre, library, reading room and a guest house for scholars visiting Ghana.

Just before signing, President Akufo-Addo made remarks including encouraging the African diaspora to make Africa their home and contribute to developing the continent making reference to the ‘Year of Return’ and ‘Beyond the Return’ initiatives in Ghana that continue to inspire the diaspora to make Africa home. “The museum will provide Ghana yet another important monument to the collective struggle of the African peoples to get their rightful place in this world,” he said.

The current W.E.B. DuBois Memorial Centre in Accra is where the celebrated civil rights and pan-African leader is buried along with his wife Shirley Graham Dubois. DuBois, who was a great inspiration to Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, became a citizen of Ghana and lived there until he died in 1963. The new plans to transform the memorial centre is a big welcome in order to revive it as a place that represents the vision and spirit of Du Bois. Once completed, it will serve as a historic site that will give visitors the opportunity to honour his legacy while connecting to their ancestral roots and embracing the culture and heritage of Ghana.

Executive Director of the W.E.B DuBois Museum Foundation, Japhet Aryiku, is a Ghanaian-American who says she’s been inspired by the writings of DuBois since she was a youth. “The Du Bois Museum Complex will usher in a renewed commitment to building an international treasure and historic memorial honouring the legacy of Dr. Du Bois, and fostering unity among the African Diaspora through a vibrant cultural and research center,” she said.

By: Ivy Prosper