At the second edition of the Black History Festival in Columbus Ohio, USA, Ghanaian leaders wooed Americans and Africans in the diaspora to choose Ghana as the best destination for investment and development.

The Coordinator of the Black History Festival, Stephen Selasie Asuo, indicated that the Black History Festival platform would become a strong bridge that would bring people together to talk about commerce, trade, culture exchange, the strong diaspora and the future of Africa and the United States.

This, he said, is because the platform was initiated to connect businesses, governments, the private sector, and civil society in Africa and the United States.

Speaking at the Senior Advisor to the President, Yaw Osafo at the Black History Festival 2023, said "US and Africa's relationship has gone through three major faces and there’s the need to bring on board the private sector."

"Business both in Ghana and the US, this idea of giving it a private sector dimension brings it to the taste of Americans and the Ghanaians and the rest of the continent.," he added.

On her part, the Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) COP Maame Yaa Tiwa Addo-Danquah, assured that EOCO is interested in ensuring that investments in Ghana are protected.

She also noted that EOCO has a website where due diligence is carried out on potential investors to ensure they run no losses.

Also, the chairman of the parliamentary select committee on Trade, Industry, and Tourism, Carlos Ahenkorah, indicated that the leadership of Ghana is aware of the desire of many people in the diaspora to go back home to establish businesses in Ghana but they are left in doubt about how to safeguard their investments.

He assured that those in the diaspora are natives of Africa and if they decide to set up businesses in Ghana, it should be treated as domestic businesses.

Meanwhile, the CEO of EIB Network, Mr. Nathaniel Adisi, popularly known as Bola Ray, called for stakeholders to pay attention to the creative bank in the showbiz industry in Ghana.

He said that until recent times, many media houses were not paying to the music and arts from Africa but now many TV shows among others play Afrobeats on their programs indicating that Afrobeats is dominating.

He pointed to the fact that nightclubs, restaurants, and events around the world take delight in African music adding that alone should tell Ghanaians that there’s a renaissance that they must take advantage of.

Also, the Head of Diaspora at the office of the President, Mr. Kwasi Awuah said building on the foundations of the Year of Return and Beyond the Return he believes that colleagues both in Ghana and the diaspora need to harness the great potential that the Black History Festival offers for a collective gain.

Present at the event was the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Awal Mohammed, who reiterated that Africa wants to build a new partnership with the US and other allies.

A partnership that would add value to products on or from the continent. By our 70th Independence celebration, we should be able to lead the way with great innovations on the continent.

The 4-day event ended with an awards ceremony to deserving Africans for their role in economics, development, media, aand academia, amongst others.

The second edition of the Black History Festival was held in Columbus Ohio in the USA in February this year.

The organisers for the Black History Festival, Bureau for International Development, Exchanges and Commerce (BIDEC) and their partners have announced that plans for the third edition are underway.

The Black History Festival is an annual event held in the USA to celebrate and strengthen ties between the United States of America and the African Union member states.

It also provides a platform to commemorate the heritage, arts, culture, trade, leadership, and innovation of Africa in the history of the United States of America.