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Ghana Acts to Sustain Gains of Year of Return

When President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo proclaimed 2019 as the Year of Return, his vision was not just to attract the diasporan community to make a birthright journey home.

It is now clear that the president also intended to strengthen the ties of solidarity among all people of African descent by bringing together Africans, well-wishers and lovers of freedom to strengthen the collective commitment to ensure that the blots in Africa’s history, such as the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and slavery, never reoccurred.

It is noteworthy that the proclamation of the Year of Return, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival in 1619 of the first 20 slaves from West Africa to Virginia, which later became part of the United States of America (USA), was made at the Washington Press Club, in Washington D.C., in front of the Congressional Black Caucus in the USA.

President Akufo-Addo insisted that it should be a global campaign, a position that informed his visit to the Caribbean and also promoting the campaigns in five nations, culminating in some of the Heads of States of those countries coming to Ghana.

The Year of Return was a great success. The country attracted many visitors from the diaspora, including celebrities and others who trace their ancestry to Ghana.
The Ghana Tourism Authority predicted the Year of Return would attract 500,000 extra visitors. However, official data indicate an additional 237,000 visitors from January to September 2019.

Beyond the Return

President Akufo-Addo has again initiated the ‘Beyond the Return’, a sequel to the Year of Return to ensure that the country reaps from cooperation with people in the Diaspora.

Launching the “Beyond the Return, The Diaspora Initiative” the President called on all to engage Africans in the diaspora and persons of African descent more positively in areas such as trade and investment co-operation, skills, knowledge and development.

He explained that ‘Beyond the Return’ which is a 10-year project was to ensure that Ghana derived maximum dividends from its relations with the diaspora in mutually beneficial co-operation, and as partners for shared growth and development.

He called on diasporans to help change the African narrative, which had concentrated on diseases, hunger, poverty and illegal mass migration.

“Let us all remember that the destiny of all black people, no matter where they are in the world, is bound up with Africa. We must help make Africa the place for investment, progress and prosperity, and not from where our youth flee in the hope of accessing the mirage of a better life in Europe or the Americas,” he said.

Citing the Chinese experience as an example, President Akufo-Addo said when foreign companies, in the late 1970s reduced their investments in China, it was the Chinese in the diaspora that shored up the economy.

According to the Washington D.C. based Migration Policy Institute (MPI), half of the foreign direct investment, $26 billion, that transformed China into a manufacturing powerhouse in the 1990s, originated from the Chinese in the diaspora, he said.

“That is why I am excited and keen on this new initiative of “Beyond the Return”, and the renewed enthusiasm around building Africa together. Let us imbibe in ourselves a deep consciousness and understanding of the goals and history of the African peoples,” he said.

The Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs Barbara Oteng-Gyasi urged the diasporan community to look beyond the ‘year of return’ and make permanent commitments in the country to help propel growth.

Africans in the diaspora must see these commitments as a duty in honour of their ancestors who faced the hardships of slavery.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Mr Akwasi Agyeman said the social impact of the initiative has translated into schools like one built by Fuse ODG at Akosombo and another by the Adinkra group”

Sankofa Account

Following the successful celebration of the ‘Year of Return’ initiative the Ministry of Finance has created a product to help drive investments from the diaspora into the country to help boost the economy.

Known as the ‘Africa Sankofa Account or the Diaspora Savings and Investment Account,’ the interest accruing banking product is targeted at Africans living abroad, who desire to invest in the Ghanaian economy

The ministry is collaborating with universal banks to market the product targeted at institutional and retail investors in the diaspora, raking in about $3 billion.

The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, who announced the initiative in Accra, said the account would be operational within the next three months

Mr Ofori-Atta said through the initiative, the government was creating a favourable environment for Africans in thediaspora to make investment contributions into the economy.

The account, when fully operational, would help ease the integration of the global African family abroad into the society and put Ghana on the map as the preferred investment destination.

“This is to encourage the diaspora to see themselves as Ghanaians when conducting business in Ghana or buying a land,” Mr Ofori-Atta said.

Mr Ofori Atta explained that although many people in the diaspora had the desire to invest in the economy, the challenge over the years had been how to identify the right products that did not conflict with the country’s securities rules.

As a result, he said, by the new initiative the government was seeking to encourage the full participation of the diaspora through such secure investment products.

“What is important for Ghana is how to create an instrument that enables the average or retail person as a Ghanaian, or Caribbean or African American to participate in a way that doesn’t conflict with securities rules,” Mr Ofori-Atta said.

The desire to invest into the economy by Africans in the diaspora, according to the minister, was evident in the volume of remittance transactions that had been recorded over the past few years.

For instance, he said, remittances from the diaspora into the country had been rising from $2.4 billion in 2017 to $2.5 billion in 2018.

The amount, he said, was expected to hit $3.2 billion when data from the final quarter of 2019 was released.

Although banks have such diaspora and offshore accounts through which Ghanaians abroad and other investors channel their funds, this is the first time the government was taking advantage of the large pool of investable funds offshore that could be harnessed for long-term development.

The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mrs Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, said many people the ministry had engaged so far were interested in making some investment commitments in the country, hence the importance of the ‘Sankofa Account’.

“The account provides an opportunity for even those with limited funds to invest in the country,” the minister said

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authoity (GTA), Mr Akwesi Agyeman, for his part, said the ‘Sankofa Account’ would help move the relationship between Ghana and the diaspora from a mere visit to one based on investment.

“We believe we have a responsibility to extend a hand of welcome back home to Africans in the diaspora.” says Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana

Source: Ghana Diaspora Recruiter