Globally acclaimed scholar and author, Prof. Ato Quayson, has said Ghana was able to garner a lot more prestige from commemorating ‘Year of Return‘, adding that the global reputation the country gleaned from the celebration is worth commending.
For him, not only did the activities that characterized the celebration boost Ghana’s ratings with African Diaspora, but also other foreign cultures.
In an interview on Citi TV‘s The Point of View, Prof. Ato Quayson asserted that it will not be wrong to conclude that Ghana has now attained global recognition.
“The platform [Year of Return] that was created was really good. Ghana’s reputation among the Diaspora has undergone different phases and now, it is at a very good phase because Ghana is doing well on the international stage. People are pleased about Ghana, so we have a positive standing in the world”.
“There are naysayers but all in all; reputationally, Ghana has a really good standing not only in the Ghanaian diaspora but in the Black Diaspora in general”, he said.
In 2019, Ghana became the center of attention for the African Diaspora and indeed much of the world as it commemorated 400 years of the transatlantic slave trade.
A lot of people from the Diaspora and other parts of the world visited the country to mark the ‘Year of Return’.
The initiative, which saw an array of celebrities across the globe making their way into Ghana to explore, learn and appreciate their roots, as well as unite with Africans on the continent raked in tourism receipts amounting to $3.3 billion.
But, Prof. Ato Quayson, who is Head of the Standford University’s English Department with knowledge in African and postcolonial literature advised that more needs to be done in other sectors of national pride to enable the country to leverage the enormous benefits of the ‘Year of Return’ initiative for socio-economic growth.
“Now Ghanaians are keen to see Ghana do well and prosper because the light bounces back at those of us abroad. So it’s really important that we get our politics, development, gender, and sexuality questions right”.
