Jamaican-based Countrystyle Community Network, under its Villages as a Business Model, has launched its first pilot project in Africa, dubbed the Royal Community Tourism Development Program.
The program targets communities with tourism potential that can be harnessed into business ventures and investor destinations for diasporans in the Caribbean, Europe and the Americas.
Championed by the Network’s African Ambassador, Dr Prince Tengol Klepmani, a delegation of two from Jamaica was brought to Ghana to undertake feasibility studies and engage with traditional leaders and community members of the first pilot area, which is Paga in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region.
A delegation from the Countrystyle Community Tourism Network from Jamaica, including its Chairman Roy Paga and Senior Architect Jason Stone, together with the Chiefs and People of Paga and the Paga Youth Movement, launched the program on Tuesday, October 20th at Paga Town Park.
Key among the programs to be initiated include the establishment of identity centers that would serve as a place to showcase the communities’ identities, including the Royal Truth Museums.
Another key initiative will be the “Know They Self” initiative that will champion cultural and business exchanges between the diasporan community and the Paga Community.
As part of the Know They Self Initiative, 100 Jamaicans are expected to visit the Paga Community next year to reconnect with their heritage and develop personal and business relationships.
The delegation, while in northern Ghana, paid homage to the Buipe Wura, Paramount Chief of the Buipe Traditional Area in the Gonja Kingdom, Buipewura Abdulai Jinapor II, who also serves as the Vice President of the National House of Chiefs.
As part of the visit, the team engaged the Upper East Regional Minister, Akamugri Donatus Atanga, who pledged government support for the initiative.
The Upper East Regional Office of the Ghana Tourism Authority, led by Mr. Joseph Appiagei, was also visited.
The delegation also visited the palace of the Bongo Naba, Naba Baba Salifu Atamale Lemyaarum, in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region, the Palace of the Navro-Pio Pe Aneakwoa Balinia Adda Asagpaare II, and the palace of host Paga Pio,
Charles Awiah Awampaga II, Paramount Chief of the Paga Traditional Area.
The Upper East Regional Office of the Ghana Tourism Authority, together with the Paga Youth Movement, led the delegation to visit Tourist sites in the region, including the Pikworo Slave Camp, the two major crocodile ponds in Paga – The Chief Pond and the Zenga Pond- the Ghana-Burkina Faso Border, and the Upper East Regional Museum.
