GHANA has been urged to remove barriers to the permanent return of Africans in the diaspora and establish practical support systems to enable them to settle, invest and contribute to national development.
The Acting Executive Director of the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, Dr Collins Rawlings Nyunyonyame, said the country’s invitation to people of African descent to return home must be matched with accessible information, effective institutions and opportunities for long-term settlement.
He said Ghana could not achieve meaningful repatriation if prospective returnees were left to navigate complex citizenship procedures and government institutions without adequate assistance.
Dr Nyunyonyame, who represented the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, at the inaugural Open D.O.O.R. Dialogues at the University of Ghana, Legon, on Tuesday, said the country must deliberately create conditions that would encourage Africans abroad to return and build lasting lives in Ghana.
He was speaking on the theme, “Come Home. Stay Home. Build Home.”
He cited the experience of a prospective returnee who recently approached his office seeking assistance to become a Ghanaian citizen because of his ancestral connections to the country.
According to him, attempts to direct the individual to the appropriate government institutions proved unsuccessful, with the prospective returnee later reporting that he had been unable to obtain the information he needed.
Dr Nyunyonyame said the experience highlighted the difficulties confronting people seeking to establish permanent roots in Ghana.
“A prospective returnee should not have to rely on personal connections or navigate a maze of referrals to understand the requirements for settling in Ghana,” he said.
He called for stronger coordination among the Office of Diaspora Affairs, Ghana Immigration Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant institutions to provide clear information on citizenship, residency, business establishment and settlement procedures.
He also proposed a structured diaspora opportunity platform to connect prospective returnees to credible investment opportunities, housing information, business registration, professional partnerships and skills-transfer programmes.
Dr Nyunyonyame said the diaspora should be regarded as an important partner in national development rather than merely a source of tourism revenue.
He said returning professionals could transfer specialised knowledge, mentor young people and strengthen local institutions, while entrepreneurs could establish businesses and create employment.
The Chairman of the Open D.O.O.R. Dialogues Committee, Ɔbenfo Obádélé Bakari Kambon, said the initiative marked a shift from the tourism-focused Year of Return to the Decade of Our Repatriation, covering 2026 to 2036.
He said tourism was only the first step towards permanent settlement and that Ghana needed practical arrangements covering citizenship, land, housing, employment and community integration.
Having repatriated to Ghana in 2008, he called for the establishment of a dedicated repatriation authority to coordinate support for people seeking to settle in the country.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, James Gyakye Quayson, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening diaspora engagement and creating practical pathways for return, reintegration, citizenship and economic participation.
He said the diaspora remained an important partner in national development through investment, innovation, skills transfer, philanthropy and international advocacy.
BY ENOCH NTIAMOAH SIAW
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