A 160-member delegation from the African Diaspora are in Ghana for the maiden “Wakanda One City of Return Trade Expo” scheduled from December 3 to 13, 2021.

The expo, under the auspices of the African Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI) seeks to explore investment opportunities in various sectors of the economy in line with the new Africa Agenda 2063 which seeks to transform the continent into a global powerhouse.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) in Accra yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer of ADDI, Dr Arikana Chihombori-Quao, said the selection of Ghana was in response to the “Beyond the Return” campaign intended to foster economic relations and investments from the diaspora in Africa and Ghana.

She indicated that the expo was expected to bring together experts, both locally and internationally, to highlight ready opportunities and in the areas of engineering and real estate, health, education, agriculture, finance and banking, trade and investment as well as culture and tourism.

Dr Quao said under the first phase of the project, the institute had acquired a 5,000 acres of land to develop “a city of return” at Asebu in the Central Region for African Diasporans as well as to pursue agricultural projects in rice and poultry production over the next five years.

Other projects in health, education and tourism development, she said would also be undertaken within the period which is expected to create about 5,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Dr Mrs Victoria Hajar, the first Vice President of the GNCCI in a remark said the Chamber was glad to collaborate with the ADDI to help the African Transformation agenda.

This, she said, was in line with realising the ADDI’s goal of taking Africa to the world and bringing the world to Africa and the Expo, comes in handy to highlight the investment potentials in Ghana.

“The tourist inflow of the 2019 Year of Return shows the interest of Africans in the Diaspora to invest in Ghana.

In view of this, the ADDI and GNCCI believes that before the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) fully finds its feet, there is the need to bridge the gap between the African Diaspora and the African continent in terms of investment, infrastructure, technology transfer, education and the creation of an enabling environment in order to push the industrialisation agenda,” she said.

Dr Hajar believed Ghana was in a strategic position to take advantage of investors coming into the country to turn round the country’s fortunes.

“The GNCCI is poised to work in close collaboration with these investors and others coming in to transform the Ghanaian economy,” she stated.