Accra, Jan. 8, GNA –
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has applauded Ghanaians for helping to
deliver a successful ‘Year of Return’ programme.
“On behalf of
Government, I extend sincere, heartfelt gratitude to the people of Ghana for
helping to make the ‘Year of Return’ a great success,” he said in a
statement.
“The welcoming
attitude and the warm Ghanaian hospitality proved to be the strongest
attraction to hundreds of thousands of our kith and kin from the African
Diaspora, who thronged our shores to commemorate the ‘Year of Return’. The
proverbial Ghanaian hospitality won once more.”
President
Akufo-Addo, in September 2018, proclaimed 2019 as the “Year of
Return” at the Washington Press Club, in Washington D.C., as a major
landmark spiritual and birth-right journey inviting the Global African family,
home and abroad, to mark 400 years of the arrival in 1619 of the first 20
enslaved Africans in Jamestown, Virginia.
“The Year of Return
Charter celebrated the cumulative resilience of all the victims of the
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade who were scattered and displaced through the world
in North America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia.
The initiative aimed
to position Ghana as a key travel destination for African Americans and the
African Diaspora, and also as a medium to engage all persons of African descent
more positively in areas such as trade and investment cooperation and skills
and knowledge development.
President Akufo-Addo
said: “The ‘Year of Return’ proved exciting and afforded us the chance to
re-establish, intensify and solidify the relations between those of us on the
Continent and those in the Diaspora.”
“They felt very
welcomed, enjoyed their stay with us, and, as a result, our country is, once
again, the toast not only of Africa but also of the world,” he said.
The President
further saluted the heads, officers and men of the security services for their
sense of professionalism and dedication to duty, which enabled them to preserve
the peace and security of the country in the course of the celebration.
“By the grace of
God, no untoward incident occurred.”
“As we begin
the new initiative of “Beyond the Return,” which will entail that we engage in
mutually beneficial trade, investment and cultural cooperation with the African
Diaspora, I urge all Ghanaians to demonstrate this same level of excitement and
commitment that characterised the Year of Return and help make it also an
enduring success.”
“Together, I am
confident that we can imbibe in ourselves a deep consciousness and
understanding of the goals and history of the African peoples to ensure that
the 21st century is, indeed, the African century, the century of black people
the world over,” the President said.
The Year of Return
attracted more than 200,000 people from the African Diaspora and estimated to
have generated over 1.5 billion dollars through related activities into Ghana’s
economy in 2019.
The campaign was
well received by the Diaspora as President Akufo-Addo personally travelled to
the Americas and the Caribbean to promote the programme.
The year-long
initiative culminated in a series of activities, including a music festival, an
investment conference targeting diaspora Ghanaians, and the Right to Return
Initiative, encouraging African-Americans to seek citizenship in Ghana.
Some 126 Africans in
the Diaspora were granted Ghanaian citizenship as part of the Year of Return
campaign last November.
GNA
