How African Countries Can Learn from Ghana’s ‘Year of Return’ Initiative
Last November a delegation from Nigeria travelled to Ghana to learn more about how the country successfully held its ‘Year of Return’ initiative in 2019. It was perhaps the biggest campaign that attracted the global African diaspora to visit Ghana. The ‘Year of Return’ marked the 400-year anniversary of the first documented ship of enslaved Africans to arrive in what is now Virginia, USA.
The campaign focused on inviting people of African descent to visit Ghana to mark the historic year in a way that would have them reconnect with the continent of Africa. The campaign was officially launched by the President of Ghana during a press conference in Washington D.C., in September 2018. It was a collaborative effort of the Office of Diaspora Affairs, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Ghana Tourism Authority, The Adinkra Group, and the PANAFEST Foundation.
The initiative resulted in Ghana having record breaking numbers in the tourism sector. Over 1.1 million visitors came to Ghana and it was estimated that the economy was boosted by $1.9 billion as a result. These numbers are based on the average amount of money spent by each tourist.
In early 2020, it was rumored that countries like Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone were also planning similar programs like the ‘Year of Return’ in order to boost their tourism sectors and also attract visitors from the African diaspora. What can other countries in Africa learn from what Ghana did?
First, they can learn the value of connecting with the diaspora. Ghana has always been known as a pan-African country. Since its inception when the country gained independence and Kwame Nkrumah invited the like of Martin Luther King Jr., it was clear that the diaspora has been important for Ghana. Nkrumah had a vision to build a united Africa and that would include reconnecting with the diaspora. Since then there have been many high profile people including Maya Angelou, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X and W.E.B. DuBois, who all either visited or lived in Ghana.
Second, connecting with high profile individuals who have the influence to amplify the message. In the early stages of Ghana’s ‘Year of Return’ campaign, the president had meetings with Marketing Bozoma Saint John and Actor/Producer, Boris Kodjoe, who both invited a group of their celebrity friends to visit Ghana. They coined their trip the ‘Full Circle Festival’. In December 2018, just before the official start of ‘Year of Return 2019’, their trip to Ghana with the like of Actor, Anthony Anderson (Black ‘ish), Actor/Model, Cynthia Bailey (Real Housewives of Atlanta), Actor/Director, Gabourey Sidibe (Precious, Empire), Actor/Producer, Michael Jae White (Black Dynamite) and Actor/Motivational Coach A.J. Johnson. Their trip inspired many others as they amplified the message of Ghana through their personal social media pages.
Others who came to Ghana in December 2018 included Idris Elba, Naomi Campbell, Ozwald Boateng, Jidenna, Rosario Dawson and who all have been to Ghana previously, but their choice to come and join in the Full Circle Festival activities spoke volumes as to the power of social/celebrity influence. It’s important to note that the Ghana government never paid any celebrities to come to the country. Celebrities made their own decisions and spend their own money to come into the country.
Third, using digital media to attract the diaspora was a critical part of the campaign. The first few months of the Year of Return had little social media presence from their own accounts. For the most part they were heavily reliant on what others were sharing on their platforms. It was when they brought myself on board as the Social Media Manager in May of 2019, when all that began to change.
The Year of Return social media pages were barely active and once I took the reigns, I increased the posting, engagement and the following grew. Before I knew it I grew the page from just over 300 followers to over 10k in a few short months organically. This was without sponsored ads. As the year went on, the social media engagement grew and more people around the world said if it wasn’t for social media, they didn’t even know about the campaign.
In order to have a successful campaign, other African countries need to embrace connecting with the diaspora with an authentic pan-Africanist thought, engage with high profile people willing to help amplify the message and utilize the power of social media to get the message out there.
