Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo Addo, has, for the third time in a month, won the hearts of leaders in the Caribbean pushing for them to sign a no-visa agreement between their countries and Ghana.
Jamaica is the most recent country to sign this visa waiver with the West African country synonymous for its gold-mining and cocoa producing acumen.
Only last week, Face2Face Africa reported how Ghana had won another visa waiver with Barbados, following immediately after a similar agreement reached between the country and Guyana.
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With this year being marked as the Year of Return in Ghana marking 400 years since slaves set foot in America, and the Year of Festivals declared by the Caribbean Tourism Organization, several avenues are being explored and created to unite the black community through history, culture and like-mindedness.
Following the visa waiver agreements with Cameroon, Ethiopia, Liberia, Morocco, Senegal, Rwanda, Burkina Faso and Ghana by the Barbadian government, Guyana is also strengthening ties with African countries starting with Ghana.
President Nana Akufo Addo, and his Jamaican compatriot, Prime Minister Andrews Holness, announced the agreement following bilateral discussions the two had in Kingston, Jamaica, on Saturday, June 15, 2019. This was part of president Akufo Addo’s two-day official visit to Jamaica.
Stressing the importance of Ghana-Jamaica relations, the president indicated that the two nations have an excellent opportunity to build on their strong ties imposed by culture and history, so as to derive maximum economic value for their respective countries.
President Akufo Addo’s visit forms part of a Caribbean tour to promote the “Year of Return, Ghana 2019,” which is a major landmark marketing campaign targeting the African–American and Diaspora market to mark 400 years of the first enslaved African arriving in Jamestown, Virginia.
He described the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade as a “horrendous episode of human history,” while explaining that Ghana is keen on commemorating this event largely because a large number of slaves came through slave forts located in Ghana.
He noted that his visit to Jamaica “completes a very worthwhile week that I have had here discussing with the various Caribbean leaders how we can strengthen the relations across the waters” and finding ways to “(strengthen) each other…and growing and empowering our economies to play a more critical role in the new global architecture”.
