Editorial: Govt must rethink Diasporan Relations

The Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations is failing the people it is supposed to represent, the Vice-Chairman of the New Patriotic Party in the United States, Kwasi Afrifa, told The Statesman last week.

We disagree with this statement because it is based on the false premise that the Ministry is a government body nominally responsible for all non-resident Ghanaians because it is in charge of Diasporan relations. But, clearly that was not the thinking that informed the decision by the Presidency to slice off from the Tourism Ministry, Modernisation of the Capital City and replace it with Diasporan Relations.

We do, however, have a problem with the decision to have a Ministry dedicated to the contribution of African Americans, for example, and particularly slave-trade descendents, when we do not seem to place a similar ministerial emphasis on the direct issue of a Ghanaian Diaspora of an estimated three million scattered around the world; the majority of whom are not direct descendents of the West African slave trade hundreds of years ago.

If Government can see wisdom and no duplicity in adding NEPAD and Regional Cooperation (matters ordinarily Foreign) to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, then in creating a Ministry for Diasporan Relations it ought to have recognised that the issue of Ghanaians abroad is much more of a priority than issues of Slavery and the descendants of the infamous Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

But, since a ministry has already been created for matters about the Diaspora, we shall urge Government to extend its mandate. Here at The Statesman, we agree that the supposed Diasporan Ministry should be doing more to reel in the potential, economic and human, of our sizeable Diaspora, and more to engage that Diaspora in the development of this country.

However, we have a fundamental difficulty with the location: We question the inclusion of Diasporan Relations under the umbrella of the Tourism Minister in the first place; if this country’s relationship with its non-resident citizens is going to become more central to national planning and development, the focus needs to be on more than just the potential tourism revenue that might come from returning Diasporans, which seems to be the main hobby-horse of the new amalgamated ministry.

The combination last year of Tourism and Diasporan Relations (which formerly had no ministry at all) appears to have clouded the mandate of both areas, with Ghana’s tourism drive now driven by an unjustified focus on slave trade returnees and so-called “guilt tourism.” Government’s goal is to see one million tourists through the country this year, up from an estimated 700,000 in 2006 – that is, a more than 40 percent increase. The most visible vehicle for this growth appears to be the new Joseph Project initiative – capitalising upon the coincidence between Ghana’s 50th anniversary of Independence and the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain (which actually had very little effect upon the colonies until some three decades later) to sell Ghana as the “gateway” to West Africa and to encourage African Americans in particular to make pilgrimage trips to Ghana.

The idea is one we welcome: it is important for Ghanaians, both at home and abroad, to recognise and reconcile their role in the slave trade, and to make amends with the past. Any Ghanaian who has travelled abroad, particularly to North America, and likewise Ghanaian-Diasporans who have returned to Ghana, will have experienced the rift between the two cultures – embedded, in part, by the painful legacy of a trade in human beings which ended almost two centuries ago. The symbolic importance of the Joseph Project initiative is one which must therefore be welcomed.

The tourism and economic sense of the drive is less clear, however. Whilst it is true that there is a market for “slave tourism” amongst African Americans, the overriding focus of Government energy and resources on this area is misplaced. Speaking in October to The Statesman, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, even revealed the limited scope of the project: during July and August this year, when the bulk of Joseph Project events, including healing ceremonies with traditional chiefs, will take place, the Ministry is expecting 1,000 participants to take part. 1,000, when the target number of foreign visitors this year is 1,000 times that number! Even if “slave tourism” were to take off in Ghana, as it has in countries such as Senegal, which has also become a popular “pilgrimage” site for those with roots in West Africa, the potential market, and its income, is still comparatively small:

African Americans constitute around 10 percent of the population of North America – and this not the top slice, but a group with very relatively little disposable income.

There are about 33 million African Americans with perhaps another 10 million in the Caribbean and Canada and several million more in South America – which does not speak English. Of these, very few (probably less than 2 percent) will ever be able to afford or even interested in a pilgrimage to Africa; often after years of saving for an once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip. And again, of this very depleted number, their visits will be spread over a number of years and a number of countries. This is not a market of some 50 million who might make yearly visits; rather, a market of some 1.3 million who may come to some part of Africa at some point during their lives. Senegal and the Gambia are already established destinations for slave trade returnees, with slave castles of their own to boast, and more direct flights from the USA to Dakar than USA to Ghana (only two airlines currently offer the service). Ghana is also competing with other African countries for those precious black American dollars: safari routes such as Kenya and Tanzania; South Africa, with its double allure of picturesque scenery against which Ghana can never compete, and the long history of struggle against Apartheid; the pyramids of Egypt; the exoticism of Morocco; and adventure trails throughout the continent for the more ambitious traveler. Of the few thousands African Diasporans in the US who travel back to the continent every year, it is unrealistic for Ghana to ever haul in more than about 10,000 of them (let alone 100,000 for a country aiming for 1 million tourists) – regardless of what we have to offer, even the size of our attractions will not alter the size of the market, or of the competition. Experts within the tourism industry rather point to the more diverse potential of ecotourism in Ghana. Whilst African Americans spent an average of 9-12 days in Ghana, following the Golden Triangle of Accra-Kumasi-Cape Coast and rarely visiting the north, eco-tourists (from all parts of the world, interested in history, culture and wildlife) tend to come for longer – two to three weeks, on average – see more of the country, and spend more.

The Tourism Ministry has made some noise about developing this eco-tourism market, and last week The Statesman took a special look at ecotourism in Volta Region – but so far we have seen little concerted effort in that direction. It is true that Ghana has a rich culture, that we have beaches, rainforest, animals, just like many other parts of this continent – but what kind of eco-tourist would choose to wallow in our sewage-infected waters, or visit our poorly maintained nature reserves, when they could opt for the pristine tropical beaches of Senegal or the organised trips of Kenya? The Tourism Ministry needs to rethink its over-focus on that Diasporan market; and Government needs to rethink its handling of the Diaspora in general – because they have much more to offer than over-hyped holiday potential.