In order to build lasting wealth, African nations are being urged to maintain their commitment to closer integration among themselves at the opening of this year's Emancipation Day event in Accra.
A holiday honouring emancipation was established in 1998 to mark the end of slavery.
Speaking at the event yesterday, Mark Okraku Mantey, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, urged African countries to remember the blood and sacrifices of their ancestors who fought for independence and to make sure that the current and succeeding generations maintained their identity as Africans regardless of where they lived.
"Our shared culture and identity make us feel like one huge family. There is no getting around the reality that language separates us, locations and settlements may do the same, and even gaining knowledge may alter our stories.
Our Heritage, Our Strength will be the subject for the Emancipation Day celebration, with the subtheme "Re-engaging to solidify our developmental agenda" as part of it.
The celebration's goal, according to Mr. Mantey, is to reignite the torch of black solidarity in Africa and the sixth area.
He remarked, "Let us take this occasion as we prepare for our next Emancipation Day celebration to remind ourselves that we are not completely freed if Africans are not economically independent.
Investment
According to Mr. Mantey, the ministry aimed to raise up to $4 billion from two billion tourists by 2024 using the nation's tourism and cultural resources.
He said that $25 million had already been allocated to the renovation and improvement of several tourist attractions, including the Yendi, Ejisu, Akropong, and Ho cultural museums, the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, the Mole and Kakum parks, and the castles at Cape Coast and Elmina.
Still at war
Professor Esi Sutherland-Addy, the Panafest Foundation's chair, claimed that the continent's freedom was not bestowed upon it on a silver platter but rather through the sweat, toil, and fortitude of its people.
"We need mental freedom, not physical freedom from constraints on our body. Working to eliminate dependence and taking stock of our own resources is what we need to focus on, she added.
In order to go forward, according to Prof. Sutherland-Addy, the nation's natural resources must be valued, and the past of the country must be taken into consideration.
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