Ghanaian entertainment entrepreneur and politician Baba Sadiq recently shared with Accra-based TV3 that the triumph of the 2019 “Year of Return” initiative was primarily the result of private sector efforts, not government actions.
He pointed out that the “December in Ghana” concept, central to the initiative’s success, had been promoted by private entities well before the initiative’s launch.
Sadiq explained that the concept of “December in Ghana” had been promoted by private entities long before the initiative.
“The ‘Year of Return’ was essentially mainly branding. Every December, the ‘December in Ghana’ component had always existed.
“In 2019, when they launched the ‘Year of Return’, it was supposed to be almost something like a PANAFEST idea where to mark the 400 years of the return of slaves to Africa. And so you have created this idea to sort of encourage the black diaspora to come back home. Not in December, but around the period when they are usually on break, which is July, August, and September. that’s a summer period. That’s when they are usually on break. And so the idea was to encourage them to come back to the country. But guess what? That idea didn’t quite pick up,” he said.
The “Year of Return” was launched to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans in the Americas, encouraging the Black diaspora to visit Ghana.
Originally intended to coincide with the summer break in July, August, and September, the initiative struggled to gain traction during those months.
Sadiq noted that it was only when the “Year of Return” events were integrated into the existing December festivities, a period already popular for entertainment in Ghana, that the initiative gained significant momentum.
“Then in December of that year, the entertainment companies, which has always existed as much as we know it, including some of the activities that have always existed for as much as we know it, but then they pick it up and they tag it and say, it’s the year of return,” he said.
He emphasized that the private sector played a crucial role in organizing and promoting events during this time, which greatly contributed to the initiative’s success.