Over the last couple of years, there has been a huge stream of people moving back home to their motherland Ghana. The going-back phenomenon has become a real trend in the Diaspora.

Some people move to Ghana for good, others fall in love with the country and travel back home constantly. There was a major boom in visitor number in 2019, which was declared the ‘Year of Return’ by Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo.

What seemed to be a national promotional campaign, in the beginning, turned out to be a huge success and encouraged many people in the Diaspora to travel back home.

Many have decided to stay permanently and relocate to Ghana to live their life and start new. Here are some of the reasons that sparked their life-changing decision.

Expanding economy and business opportunities

Ghana is ranked as the fifth-fast growing economy on the African continent. This makes the country very attractive for investments and opens up many opportunities to start successful businesses.

Especially young experts and professionals like myself are drawn to these new chances they get offered.

On top of that, many young and talented people abroad experience a lack of opportunity in their home market and are fascinated to start their own business back at home.

The opportunities seem almost endless and there is enough space to realize yourself in almost every sector. Ghanaian political leaders and appointees have made it very clear that they welcome people from the Diaspora with open arms.

The government has made an effort to simplify the VISA application process for people coming from the Caribbean and introduced the ”Diaspora Engagement Policy”, which directly benefits people who return back home to Ghana.

Feelings of freedom and relief

Depending on where you come from you might escape the reality of being discriminated against in your country. Many black Americans can relate to feeling unwanted and rejected, considering the police-involved violence that is at all-time present.

Many people in the diaspora who reside in Europe crave to go back home to a country that their parents left a long time ago. Feelings of displacement haunt many of us.

When returning back home and being amongst people that share the same cultural and historical background as you makes you no longer feel like a victim to an outsider.

You get to see where you come from and where your roots are – a journey of self-discovery I can only encourage everyone to take on.

Emotional connection to the motherland

If you have ever been to Ghana more than once you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s something you can hardly express but you feel deeply in every inch of your body. You feel like you are home.

Deep down you know a part of you belongs here. You experience a deep sense of inner freedom and peace that you’ve never experienced abroad.

I like to call this your ’emotional connection to the motherland’. No matter how long you have lived abroad, whether you were born and raised in a completely different county – once you are in Ghana and look around yourself you feel it.

This emotional connection develops into a deeper sense of wanting to also see a change happening in your country, especially when coming from very westernized countries.

The satisfaction of being a change-maker in an emerging country seems very rewarding for many people. Especially for those who accumulated professional skills abroad and make great use of them back at home.

The Concept of Repatriation

Ghana holds pride in being an advocate for Pan-Africanism. Great leaders like Kwame Nkrumah have paved the way and guided many people from the Diaspora back home.

The concept of reparations has been present for a while but has gained international attention through the masses returning back home. Many people feed into the false narrative of Ghana offering free land and money to those who decide to move back to their forefathers’ land, which is far from true.

The initiative ‘Beyond the Return’, which is aimed at promoting economic relations as well as trade and investments from the diaspora, lists seven pillars in their program.

One of them related to the ”adoption of legal and policy framework on visa acquisition (e-visa) and the institution of a diaspora visa. It will facilitate key diaspora pathway programs such as citizenship programs, educational and work exchanged, residence and work permits.”

There is no pillar that describes Ghana giving out free land or free money for people in the Diaspora. Nevertheless, the government has been of great support so far.

People from the diaspora, especially black Americans who suffer greatly from a deadly pandemic called police brutality, have been encouraged to return home. We continue to open our arms and invite all our brothers and sisters home.

Ghana is your home. Africa is your home. We have our arms wide open ready to welcome you home. Please take advantage, come home, build a life in Ghana.

You do not have to stay where you are not wanted forever, you have a choice and Africa is waiting for you.”, Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture.