News
MOTCCA, GTA advance trade partnerships and promotes Black Star Experience During U.S. Trade Mission
The Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Creative Arts and Ghana Tourism Authority has concluded a successful trade and investment mission to the United States, with official visits to Memphis, Tennessee, Detroit Michigan and Columbus, Ohio aimed at strengthening economic ties, forging strategic partnerships, showcasing tourism and the Black Star Experience.
The delegation was led by the Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Yussif Jajah, and included Mrs. Maame Efua Houadjeto, CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Mr. Ben Anane-Nsiah, Deputy CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority, and Ms. Annabelle McKenzie, Director of the International Affairs Secretariat of the Ghana Tourism Authority.
At the core of the mission was the goal of establishing and expanding trade and investment relationships across key U.S. cities. The delegation met with a wide range of stakeholders, including government officials, private sector leaders, business chambers, universities, and cultural organizations to position Ghana as a viable hub for international investment, tourism and trade across diverse sectors, including real estate, manufacturing, education, creative industries, and hospitality.
In Memphis, the delegation was hosted by the Mayor’s Office in partnership with GUBA (Grow, Unite, Build Africa).
The visit built on the momentum from the 2022 Memphis in May International Festival, when Ghana was the honored country and a sister-city agreement was signed.
Discussions focused on expanding this partnership, particularly in the areas of trade, tourism promotion, and education. Notably, the University of Memphis, which enrolls over 200 Ghanaian students, was highlighted as a key partner in fostering academic and cultural exchange.
In Detroit, the delegation engaged with both diaspora and non-diaspora stakeholders around investment collaboration. City and business leaders expressed strong interest in working with Ghana on initiatives in real estate development, entertainment and culture.
Plans are underway to organize a Ghana Cultural Fair in Detroit to celebrate Ghana’s heritage while promoting economic opportunities. In Columbus, Ohio, where Ghana remains the only country with a sister-city relationship, the delegation was welcomed by the Mayor of Columbus.
The meetings focused on trade, with stakeholders emphasizing a shared commitment to expanding business and exchanges between Ghana and Columbus-based institutions and investors.
Ghana recognizes the vital role that the global African diaspora plays in national development and continues to champion reconnection efforts. The delegation engaged the diaspora “Ghana is committed to creating meaningful pathways for the diaspora to return, not just for visits, but to invest, to collaborate, and to contribute.
Through the Black Star Experience, we invite our brothers and sisters across the globe to reconnect with their roots while becoming active participants in Ghana’s future.”
The Black Star Experience serves as a unifying platform, welcoming global Africans and partners alike to engage with Ghana through heritage tourism, cultural exchange, and economic opportunity for both diaspora and non-diaspora stakeholders looking to connect with Ghana,” said Mrs. Maame Efua Houadjeto.
Next steps in international outreach include upcoming missions to New Orleans, New York, Washington, D.C., and other key cities across the U.S., as part of ongoing efforts to promote tourism, investment, cultural exchange, and global collaboration under the Black Star Experience.
News
Swallowed by the Sea! …Keta’s coastal lines, landmarks, efforts to preserve heritage
The Atlantic Ocean is no longer a distant blue horizon for the people of Keta.
It now circles around their doorsteps, uninvited, unrelenting, pulling down walls and other structures, erasing memories, and threatening lives.
Hovering precariously between the restless sea and the Keta Lagoon, this once-thriving coastal town is slowly being obliterated.
Salt water has become both a physical and metaphorical threat, dissolving the town’s past as fast as it claims its future.
Madam Aku Atitso, 62, lives in a crumbling former Prisons Service quarters – one of the few structures still standing on the eroded stretch of Queen Street.
She sits quietly at the entrance, preparing a modest breakfast for herself and her granddaughter.
The air is thick with salt and silence. “The sea took everything,” she says softly. “My husband’s nets, our mattress, our memories all gone overnight.” Her voice trembles. “This place too is dying. But it’s the last place with a roof over my head.”
A few metres away, Aunty Esinam, 79, watches the sea from a low stool beside a wooden shelter. Her eyes do not blink. “That spot,” she points, “used to be someone’s living room, a whole family lived there”.
It’s not just homes that are vanishing. Landmarks that anchored Keta’s cultural identity are disappearing one after another. The once-imposing Fort Prinzenstein, a haunting relic of the transatlantic slave trade is now more of a ruin than a monument.
the encroaching waters along Keta’s
coast.
encroaching waters along Keta’s coast
The colonial-era Bremen factory, the old cinema where generations of children once laughed at flickering black-and-white films is also gone.
Queen Street, once the town’s bustling backbone, is now a watery corridor choked with debris.
Standing atop a section of the sea defence wall, 69-year-old retired teacher Efo Kwasi Agbeko surveys what remains.
“The first police station is mostly gone,” he says, gesturing part of the building stuck in the sea sand, only ruins and a few rooms remain.
“This town is fighting, but the sea is winning,” he said.
Even the Cape St. Paul Lighthouse, Keta’s historic sentinel, leans perilously toward the water, and fishermen say holes in the shore are opening more frequently, sometimes every week.
That leaves a thick cloud of uncertainty hanging around the historic town of Keta.
Once upon a time, it was a vibrant town noted for business but currently left with ruins with a few of the residents watching in awe the sea’s devastation.
From: Geoffrey Kwame Buta, Keta, Volta Region
News
Ghanaians climax Easter with fun-filled activities
Christians around the world and other faith based groups last Monday climaxed the Easter celebration with a number of fun-filled outdoor and indoor activities.
With streets empty, fun seekers stormed church premises where picnics were held while others partied in many ways.
Others spent the day at the various beaches and music and film shows occupying the others.
velleyball competition
at the Laboma Beach
Church in Tema Community 8 engaged
in a number of activities including the
popular draught competition
At the churches, participants engaged in bible reading, football, volleyball, playing cards, table tennis, horse racing, bouncing castles, swimming and oware.
one of the picnic venues
Others played ludo, tag of war, lime and spoon, draught, music competitions among others.
The Spectator captured some of the exciting scenes around Accra-Tema for the benefit of readers.
Story & pictures by Victor A. Buxton
