GEPA Keen On Promoting Storytelling As Export Commodity
The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) is keen on supporting indigenous storytelling of Ghana’s cultural and historical occurrences as an export commodity to generate foreign exchange.
GEPA CEO, Dr Afua Asabea Asare, who was speaking at the launch of ‘Remnants of a Haunted Past – Forts and Castles of Ghana’, a book that captures all the remaining historical Forts and Castles across the country, said heritage and historical tourism is a huge foreign exchange earner for many countries across the globe and GEPA is interested in sparking the conversation on possibilities of tapping into that prospect.
GEPA, she said, has the mandate to promote products and services of Ghana including the projection of exportable ideas and concepts in marketing the country.
“We have the black diaspora in USA, Europe, Canada and the Caribbean, with most of them tracing their history of departure from Africa from these forts and castles. It was an unfortunate happening, but we can begin to see the brighter side of how to positively tell these stories to ignite interests of pilgrimage on large scale in order to preserve the history surrounding these monuments and to most importantly generate income from such visits” Dr Asabea indicated.
The collaboration with the author, GEPA explained, is basically meant to tell Ghana’s story on the country’s role as the major hub of the departure to the ‘new world’.
“When we look at movies from other countries; it makes us want to go visit. That’s exactly what triggers GEPA’s interest to collaborate with the author to promote these edifices through the use of photography to sell Ghana” the CEO said.
Dr Asare said, GEPA would recommend the book to all Ghana’s missions abroad on why it is important to have it in their libraries to use as an invitational piece for people from the diaspora to come to Ghana.
“Apart from that, the book is a good material in public libraries, personal libraries, schools, government institutions, airports, hotels, lobbies and lounges”
The author, Yaw Pare, said the 180-page book, which took two years on the road – capturing monuments, is one of the best coffee-table books that vividly tells the story of the numerous forts and castles across Ghana in clear photographs.
“It is one of the best coffee table books that Ghana has to offer the world at large on the sentimental stories of the slave fortifications that littered its coast and other parts of a territory formerly known as the Gold Coast” he said.
Yaw Pare said one of the aims of ‘Remnants of a Haunted Past’ is reuniting with brothers and sisters who are in the diaspora to open up dialogue that leads to healing , forging trade relations, establishing a pilgrimage for resettlement and advancement of the continent of Africa, adding, “It’s important to know where we come from!”