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(CNN) – When some of the best-known faces of the African diaspora arrived for a recent vacation in Accra, Ghana, it simply looked like another gathering of celebrities.
Actors, including Idris Elba, rubbed shoulders with supermodel Naomi Campbell, television sports presenter Mike Hill and author Luvvie Ajayi.
Behind this meeting of box-office stars, fashion designers and great creatives lies a focused and ambitious strategy to make Ghana a major tourist destination.
According to the plan, Ghana 's tourism industry is expected to generate $ 8.3 billion a year by 2027, in addition to the benefits that flow from it.
Star power
VIP guests attended events chaired by Ghana's president, Nana Akufo-Addo, the architect of the plan to boost tourism and diversify the country's economy by addressing her diaspora. Guests have also taken part in conferences, festivities and trips around the country to discover unique features. and a sobering heritage.
The main goal of the festival was to strengthen ties between Ghana, the African continent and those of African descent living elsewhere.
It is estimated that 75% of the slave traps on the west coast of Africa were in Ghana – millions of people were taken away and transported on ships from Ghanaian ports.
The announcement of the year of President Akufo-Addo's return underscored Ghana's tragic legacy as a reason for the descendants of the diaspora to return and familiarize themselves with this chapter of the country. history.
Celebrities who attended the Full Circle festival were taken on guided tours of the slave dungeons.
"Every person of color must participate in this pilgrimage," said actor and co-organizer Boris Kodjoe, of Ghanaian origin. "They have to experience this trip and get in touch with their emotional legacy, go through the dungeons and see the 'door of no return'," he told CNN.
Marketing rock star Bozoma Saint John – who has a series of marketing hits such as Beyonce's half-bowl show at half-time – worked with Kodjoe, inviting 100 of the most influential members of the African diaspora to do the same. festival at Christmas New Year.
Saint John, who works for the global media conglomerate Endeavor and who previously held senior roles with Uber and Apple Music, said the project was close to his heart.
"As long as you have melanin and are looking for a return to Africa, it's essential," she told CNN.
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo and his wife Rebbeca pose in front of the Full Circle festival.
Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Ghana
"I really felt that I wanted to show people the country I know and love, I consider it a personal mission and I will use my professional weight to help the mission."
Saint John says returning members of the diaspora can look forward to joy during their trip to Ghana as well as at times of solemnity. Skyscrapers and restaurants feature prominently in promotional material.
Full Circle festival participants pose for a group photo.
Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Ghana
"All the fun things you can do in Nice, Bali, Ibiza, you can do it here in Ghana too," she added.
Return year
The Full Circle Festival, which featured celebrities, was the beginning of another year of President Akufo-Addo's announced return in September 2018.
Akufo-Addo, a member of Washington's National Press Club, said Ghana would open its arms even further to welcome our brothers and sisters in what would become a true thank-you for the global African family.
The year of return includes a music festival, an investment conference for Ghanaians from the diaspora and the "Right to Return" initiative encouraging African Americans to apply for citizenship in Ghana.
This year – long initiative is based on a long tradition of vision towards the outside.
Ghana, the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence from colonial rule, has always had close ties with Africans overseas. This goes back to the country's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, whose vision of pan-Africanism included alliances with diaspora communities.
Nkrumah had a warm relationship with African-American icons such as Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, who both traveled to Ghana to meet him. The writer Maya Angelou stayed in the country after independence and the civil rights leader, W.E.B. Du Bois is buried in Accra.
Ghana has also sought to encourage returnees from the diaspora through legislation such as the Right of Residence Act 2000, which allows people of African descent to apply for the right to remain indefinitely. in the country.
It was followed by the Joseph project in 2007 that encouraged Africans in the diaspora to return, which the authorities compared to the Israeli law of return that allows Jews to become citizens.
When Saint John has finished marketing Ghana to the world, she hopes it will have an impact on the entire region and will reshape people's perceptions.
"We will use Ghana as a gateway to the rest of the continent," she said.
"There are beaches in Kenya as well as snow-capped mountains, we have to tell the story of all the incredible opportunities that Africa offers."
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