Today Afrikaba International had an engaging event at the Accra Tourist Information Centre. Changing the Narrations of African Descent, was the name of the one-day conference. The focus of this event was on engaging with people from the global African diaspora to discuss doing business on the continent.
Nana Opoku Amankwah is the CEO of Afrikaba International Foundation, an organization that is dedicated to connecting people of African descent from around the world to Ghana and other parts of Africa. This is the first time he has put on such an event. He said he was inspired to do so after doing a YouTube video where he spoke about how to return to Ghana. On his channel, GhanaMoneyKinkon, he speaks on everything from business to tours in Ghana. “I realized that people are talking about the same things and decided why can’t we come together to discuss our concerns?”
He said he learned that Ghana Tourism Authority was working on the Year of Return activities to encourage people from the diaspora to come to Ghana and decided to submit a proposal for his event. Once accepted he was thrilled about having a reputable platform to support his event. “There’s been a lot of conferences and summits that come to Ghana about bringing together African Americans and Ghanaians, but we’ve never had one that is very interactive. One that can actually speak to the questions and answers people are looking for,” Amankwah said.
This first event had representatives from Ghana Immigration to address questions many diasporans have about work permits, residency status and citizenship. The President of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), was also there to give a breakdown as to what it takes to start a business in Ghana.
Courtney R. Brown Jr., is an Entrepreneur and Business Advisor who was on the panel and was offering advice on the value of doing business in African countries. He has started his own coffee company exporting from Angola and encourages people from the diaspora to take advantage of the buying power of people from the African American community to support products from Africa. He told the audience that the spending power of blacks in America was equal to all of Canada and we should leverage that when doing business.
Amankwah, is excited about what’s in store for the future. He knows there are challenges when people move to Ghana, and he wants to be a source of information for those looking to make the move or simply want to do business in Ghana.
Find out more about his organization by visiting the website at www.afrikabainternational.com.
Written by Ivy Prosper
