In 2019, Ghana invited people of African descent around the world to come home. The Year of Return marked 400 years since the first enslaved Africans were recorded arriving in the English colony of Virginia in 1619. Celebrities, families and tour groups flew into Accra, visited the slave castles at Cape Coast and Elmina, and partied in December. The government wanted the interest to last, so it announced a follow-up: Beyond the Return, a ten-year programme from 2020 to 2030 focused on tourism, investment, culture and connections between Ghana and the diaspora.
The Year of Return and Beyond the Return
The Year of Return was launched by President Nana Akufo-Addo in Washington in 2018 and ran throughout 2019. Ghana reported a large rise in visitor arrivals during 2019, especially from the United States, Britain and the Caribbean. Beyond the Return was launched at the end of 2019 to extend the initiative for a decade, under the theme of a decade of African renaissance.
The Ghana Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Tourism lead the programme, working with the Diaspora Affairs Office.
Aims, citizenship and heritage sites
The programme aims to promote tourism, encourage diaspora investment, support cultural exchange and help those who wish to settle in Ghana. Ghana granted citizenship to a number of diaspora members in ceremonies in 2019 and later years. The pandemic in 2020 sharply reduced travel and slowed the programme’s early plans. Beyond the Return has been linked to the December festive season, when concerts and festivals draw visitors to Accra.
Visits to Cape Coast Castle, Elmina Castle and the Assin Manso slave river site remain central to diaspora tours.
Business, criticism and the road to 2030
The programme has promoted investment forums and business connections between Ghanaian and diaspora entrepreneurs. Some critics argue that the benefits have gone mainly to Accra’s hospitality industry and that infrastructure at heritage sites needs more investment. Some African Americans and Caribbeans have moved to Ghana permanently, building homes and businesses. With the programme scheduled to end in 2030, attention is turning to what it will leave behind.
The Year of Return lasted twelve months. Beyond the Return was planned to run ten times as long, and its results will be judged by who is still coming in 2030.
