Developing African Tourism through African Unity’
In 2017 Ghana commemorated 60 years of independence with great pride and fanfare. Under the leadership of the new government, there was a strong effort to ensure that this landmark anniversary in Ghana’s history was honored with a spirit of deep reflection, national solidarity and renewed hope for a more prosperous future. In fact, the official title and theme for the anniversary was “Ghana: 60 years on, Mobilizing for Ghana’s Future”.
While the spotlight was focused on Ghana and its citizens, many other African countries joined in the celebrations as well. With Ghana’s unique status as the first country in Sub Saharan Africa to gain independence as well as its continued leadership in democracy and development within the continent, it was no surprise that fellow African countries were actively invested in the success of the new Ghana at 60 initiatives. One major point of discussion was the way in which Tourism could be used as a catalyst for National and Pan African development. After successful struggles for self determination, how has tourism progressed in African countries like Ghana? And in what ways can the tourism industry continue to support and enrich African economies and communities.
In Ghana, the importance of Tourism to national development had been established at an early stage of the young country’s history. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, advocated strongly for free movement and engagement between African countries. He worked to highlight the importance and beauty of indigenous African cultures especially as source of inspiration. It was in the same vein that he spearheaded the construction of several national monuments and attractions including the National Museum of Ghana, the National museum of Science and Technology and the iconic Black star Square. However, after this initial flourish there was a significant slowdown in investments into the Tourism sector up until the 90’s where more tourist attractions were either newly developed or renovated. The world famous Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle (in fact the oldest European building in Sub Saharan Africa) were renovated in the early 90’s with the help of international organizations. Many of Ghana’s national parks were revived in the same period. For instance the hugely popular Kakum National Park was established as a reserve in 1931 but was only opened to the public as a national park in 1992.
While this period of increased investment and interest in these National ‘treasures’ was welcome, it speaks to a larger issue of the need for more consistent and widespread efforts to ensure the long term development of Ghanaian Tourism. Indeed fellow African countries like Kenya, South Africa, and Morocco have been exemplary in their strong commitment to Tourism and have benefited significantly from it. These countries are not only among the most globally recognized African countries, but they are also consistently in the top 10 most visited countries on the continent. If you mention the words ‘safari’ or ‘African wildlife’ anywhere around the world, you are likely to find that either Kenya or South Africa quickly comes up in the conversation. Similarly North African countries like Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia are world famous for their rich cultural and historic Tourist attractions . In many ways, these countries have been the beacons of Tourism in Africa for many years. Tourism is one of the most effective tools for nation building and socio-economic development so it’s no surprise that these countries have also been some of the most prosperous nations on the continent. Consequently, its evident that several other emerging African nations like Ghana can stand to gain so much by following the example that the aforementioned countries have set.
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah once said that “It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems, and that this can only be found in African unity”. So how can African countries work together, in the spirit of Pan-Africanism, to ensure the long lasting development of tourism across the continent? Perhaps we can learn even more from the pioneers of Pan Africanism who advocated for greater engagement between diverse citizens of African countries. Today, the general trend shows that there is inadequate tourism related travel by Africans within Africa. This issue is underscored when compared with the high rates of tourism related travel by Africans to destinations outside of the continent. Simply, to ensure long term development of Tourism across the continent, the patronage of African Tourist attractions by Africans needs to grow significantly. Admittedly, there a number of challenges to African integration that needs to be addressed in order to enhance African Tourism.
In most cases, excessively expensive airline costs and visa restrictions make travel between African countries very difficult. Many Africans who intend to travel around the continent have to deal with long transits in destinations outside of the continent. For instance A simple trip from Ghana to Cape Verde on most airlines would require a long layover in Lisbon and costs as much as a trip to another continent. Additionally very few African countries (unless within a regional community) allow visa free travel for Africans from other countries. In addition to these barriers to travel, there’s often insufficient knowledge about the cultures and attractions of fellow African countries. Because of this, the everyday citizen of one African country may not be enthused about visiting another. In fact one could argue that a majority of Africans are unaware of the diverse range of truly incredible, world class attractions across the continent.
Fundamentally, there needs to be more education within each African country about the rich diversity of African peoples, places and cultures. If African citizens, (especially from an early age) learn about and become familiar with the attractions in fellow countries, they are more likely to travel to them in the future for leisure or even business. On another level, exchanging ideas, best practices and expertise in Tourism (especially from developed countries like South Africa, Kenya and Morocco) will help drive development across emerging African tourism industries. Finally, increasing investment in major African festivals and Events can significantly boost African Tourism. Millions of people around the world flock to Major cities in order to attend famous events ranging from music concerts to cultural festivals and everything in between. Perhaps greater efforts should be put into maximizing already established events and festivals across the continent such as PANAFEST in Ghana, FESPACO in Burkina Faso, and the Fez Music Festival in Morocco among others. Ultimately, Africans will be much better placed than others to appreciate, improve and highlight African attractions. Just like the founding fathers and mothers of African Unity imagined, the future of Tourism in Africa lies in the ability of all relevant stakeholders across the continent to band together and drive real progress. We should be inspired by the Pan African vision of Tourism for Africans by Africans.
