Meet 15 Diasporans Making An Impact In Ghana

In recent years, Ghana has emerged as one of the hottest destinations for Africans in the diaspora. The relatively small West African country is experiencing a surge in popularity, particularly among Black Brits and African Americans.

This new wave of visitors peaked in 2019, coinciding with The Year of Return. The year-long campaign by the Ghanaian government encouraged African diasporans to visit, invest, and even permanently settle. The campaign launched to mark the 400th anniversary of enslaved people arriving in Jamestown, Virginia, saw a significant increase in UK and US visitors.

One of the main goals of The Year of Return was to position Ghana as a key travel destination. And the country has now become known for its vibrant festive season,  where thousands of Black people from Europe and the United States visit for events and parties known by tourists as “Detty December.”

Amongst Africans in the diaspora returning home are trailblazers bringing their international experience to make a difference in the West African country. Some permanently relocate, while others travel back and forth to reconnect with their African roots. Here’s our list of 15 diasporans making waves in Ghana.

Christine Souffrant Ntim

Christine Souffrant Ntim is an award-winning Haitian-American & Ghanaian, tech ecosystem expert for emerging markets. After a successful career in banking and nonprofit development, Christine started her tech career as the founder of Vendedy (currently a case study at Harvard Business School)- which is a social enterprise connecting tourists to street markets via a central digital database. The marketplace of street foods and street products was created to digitize a $10 trillion dollar black market economy and alleviate billions of street vendors from poverty.

Today, she is the founder and CEO of Global Startup Ecosystem (GSE), a tech recruitment company that is home to the world’s first digital talent career accelerator platform and the fastest-growing network of tech summit programs in emerging markets. With a mission to prepare individuals and institutions for the digital age, GSE brings together celebrities, corporate leaders, government officials, and tech ecosystem influencers to build tech career hubs that can support the sustainable development goals of workforce empowerment by 2030. The objective is to build the workforce of the future.

Diasporans Making Impact in Ghana

Adrienne Corder

Adrienne Corder is a community advocate, health guru, geneticist, international businesswoman, and founder of the youth obesity intervention, The Corder Pounder Youth Fitness Program. The Howard University graduate is a former genetic researcher. She graduated from Physician Assistant school in 2016 and then moved directly into becoming a regenerative medical expert (platelet-rich Plasma therapy.)

After finding out about her genetic connection to Ghana, since 2005 she started visiting Ghana frequently and then relocated in early 2020. Eventually creating an American Concierge Service in Ghana called The House of Diaspora and a private high-end diasporan travel and lifestyle company, the Diasporian Experience. Corder sits on the current Executive Board and was the former Vice President of the African American Association of Ghana. Other areas of her expertise include international business development, African tourism, health programming and systems, professional conference coordination, and entrepreneurial development.

Diallo Sumbry

Diallo Sumbry is the President and CEO of The Adinkra Group. The company helps people of African descent across the globe to establish a direct connection with Africa. Diallo has led nearly 1,000 people to Africa in the past three years. Most recently, in collaboration with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), he developed and facilitated the Jamestown to Jamestown tour of Ghana.

The monumental journey brought over 250 people, ranging in age from 4 to 87, for a 10-day pilgrimage marking The Year of Return – a year-long initiative to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the United States. In December 2018, Diallo was appointed US Ambassador for Tourism for Ghana in recognition of his impact on the country’s cultural and tourism sectors and his role as one of the architects of The Year of Return.

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Maya Gilliam

Maya Gilliam is the owner of Hempress Farms located in Winston-Salem North Carolina, as well as a global graphic design firm, III Eye Digital. Gilliam also operates Ma’ati Spa, a unique, luxurious, and professional spa BnB in Accra. A graduate of Howard University, she spent her early career in media focusing on sports with stints at USA Today and the NBA. In search of a way to reduce her screen time, she studied massage therapy and other wellness disciplines which led to the founding of Ma’ati Spa, LLC in 2012.

Her business was hit hard at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which inspired Maya to apply her hemp cultivation skills to transform her spa business and merge spaces with Hempress Farms, LLC. Hempress Farms is a licensed boutique, family-owned, artisanal hemp grower. Her products are sustainably produced and responsibly sourced from seed to bottle. 

Akintunde Ahmad

Akintunde Ahmad is a Bay Area based fashion creator and multimedia journalist focusing on the intersection of education, economic inequality, and the justice system. Ahmad, an east Oakland native, was most recently a Delacorte Fellow with the Columbia Journalism Review, where he wrote about news media and its influence on public perceptions.

He holds a BA in sociology from Yale University and an MS in journalism and documentary film from Columbia University. His thesis film, which focused on a team of teenage slam poets, can be viewed here. His written work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Appeal, He has been featured on broadcasts ranging from The Ellen Show to Sway in the Morning. He is currently a documentary film producer with Proximity Media, and the founder of Ade Dehye, an ethically sustainable fashion brand which manufactures in Ghana and sources textiles from across West Africa.

Meloni Boatswain

Meloni Boatswain has over 20 years of experience in the construction and technology Industries in the U.S., with leadership positions in the federal government, Fortune 500 companies, and private company holdings. She also has an impressive track record in Ghana. Boatswain is the a co-founder of the Blacks in Technology Ghana Chapter. The recently launched chapter has rapidly grown to 2000 members, offering services, including access to a global network of over 30,000 black technologists.

Other accomplishments include the role of Global Strategy Director at Transformation Lead, which spearheaded a delegation of U.S. businesses to Ghana, highlighting diverse investment opportunities. She is a co-founder of Global Digital Initiative, launched to uplift lives across Africa through technology training, certifications, workforce development, and job opportunities. Boatswain is a real estate investor in Ghana and the driving force behind an investment group, facilitating opportunities for Diasporans seeking to live, work, and play in Ghana.

Rita Mawuena Benissan

Rita Mawuena Benissan is a Ghanaian-American interdisciplinary artist spearheading a movement to reclaim Africa’s historical narratives. Throughout her artistic journey, Rita has showcased her works in various exhibitions, including those at both universities she attended: Art + Literature Laboratory in Wisconsin in 2021, the Foundation for Contemporary Art, and the Afrochella Festival in 2021.

She has also had exhibitions at Gallery 1957 in Accra, Ghana, in 2022, the Dak’Art-Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain at IFAN African Art Museum in Dakar, Senegal, in 2022, and a group show “EFIE: Museum as Home” in Dortmund, Germany. In 2020, Benissan founded ‘Si Hene’ a non-profit foundation dedicated to collecting and preserving archives. These archives narrate stories about Ghana’s chieftaincy and traditional culture. The foundation aims to raise awareness of Ghana’s royal history and make it accessible globally through digital media.

Christa Elise Sanders

Christa E. Sanders is a global, visionary leader who has worked in the field of international education for over two decades.

She has successfully managed New York University’s first international site in Sub-Saharan Africa, NYU Accra (2004-2014) and has led Webster University’s Ghana Campus for the last decade. Christa has been chiefly responsible for the institution’s development and also positioning the university as a respected leader of global educational excellence in the West African sub-region.

The Columbia University and Spelman College alumna is also an education consultant for a diverse range of institutions with international programs and Co-Founder of Black Women Abroad (BWA). BWA is dedicated to creating awareness of women of the African Diaspora who travel, do business, study, and live abroad. The BWA mission is to positively impact, inspire, empower, and enrich women of the African Diaspora through global travel experiences, diverse stories, uniquely crafted items, scholarships, and cross-cultural exchanges.

Christa has extensive travel and study experience in over 70 countries and 4 continents. The multilinguist speaks several languages, including Spanish, German, and Portuguese as well as beginning level Twi.

Christa Elise Sanders, Campus Director of Webster University Ghana

Lakeshia Ford

Lakeshia Ford is a communications strategist and CEO of Ford Communications, a 360-degree Public Relations Agency and Communications consultancy servicing Africa, America, and the Caribbean. Her work is at the intersection of diplomacy, marketing, and Africa.

In addition, Lakeshia is the Vice President of the Ghana-Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and founder of the Afro-Caribbean Festival ‘Wood and Water,’ which focuses on connecting the futures of Africa and the Caribbean/Diaspora through trade, investment, and pop culture. Lakeshia has lived and done business in Ghana for over tem\n years and is passionate about facilitating trade relations between emerging markets.

Lakeshia works with businesses from Africa and the Caribbean to trade services and products across regions. Ms. Ford earned her B.A. Economics from Spelman College, M.A. International Communication focusing on Public Diplomacy and Information & Communication Technologies for Development from American University School of International Service, and a certificate in media and data policy through the University of Oxford (Media Policy and Technology Programme). She is a Boren Fellow and diplomatic DACOR BACON fellow.

Ivy Prosper

Ivy Prosper is an experienced television host, reporter, producer, public speaker, and writer.  She is the owner of her creative media company, Prosper Creative Group, which produces content, consults with clients, and supports projects in the creative industries. She is also the author of the book, Your Essential Guide on Moving to Ghana.

Her work as the Social Media Manager for Ghana Tourism Authority’s ‘Year of Return’ and ‘Beyond the Return’ campaigns since 2019 has been a driving force for encouraging the global African diaspora to visit Ghana.

Prosper is an award-winning content creator and was nominated for host of the year on a development series for her work on The Maternal Health Channel TV Series.  She is an advocate for empowering women and girls, she’s been outspoken on issues regarding self-esteem, positive body image, maternal health, and gender equality.

Julian Owusu Bekoe

Julian Owusu-Bekoe an English-born Ghanaian entrepreneur, speaker and former football player. He started in tech career by enrolling in the London School of Business and Management to study digital product management.

He cut his teeth by becoming a product manager at Landor and Fitch. From there, Owusu went on to manage other products at Culturetool and Spark44, right until he decided to build a financial product for Ghanaians – Zuberi Pay. Then in 2023, he launched Itspoynt, where people can buy, sell, and discover secondhand products in Ghana.

Dawn Dickson

Dawn Dickson is a serial entrepreneur and inventor with over 20 years of experience in technology and business development. Since 2001, she has founded six successful companies, including Flat Out of Heels (2011) and PopCom (2017), and has successfully exited one company (Lifestyle Cafe, 2021).

Dawn is the first female founder globally to raise over $1M in a secure token offering under a Reg CF of the JOBS Act. She is considered to be a pioneer in Web3 and equity crowdfunding. Dickson is carving out a career in real estate and other ventures since relocating to Ghana’s capital Accra. She is now the Director of Business Development at Devtraco Group, one of Ghana’s leading real estate companies.

Natasha Osei Antwi

Natasha Osei Antwi is an entrepreneur and an award-winning international property management and real estate professional. She is currently the CEO of Akweya Property Management Group and Bell & Howell Reality Group and the Co-founder of the Rental Housing Association Of Ghana. She also expanded her influence in the United States, where she has made a significant impact in the real estate industry.

Cyril Ofori Nelson

Cyril Ofori Nelson is an experienced executive producer and co-founder of So Fraiche Media, a London, Accra, and Dubai-based advertising company. His company worked on the 2016 Presidential Elections in Ghana and clients include Essence Full Circle Festival, Tik-Tok, Coca-Cola, Samsung, Hermes, Nike and Lifetime TV/A+E networks.

His role includes overseeing project development and ensuring that team members are carrying out their tasks efficiently while upholding the company’s standards. Working on campaigns for NGO’s, government agencies and commercial brands in over 25 countries has allowed Cyril to gain valuable insights plus exposure in various industries.

Nelson has a strong passion for philanthropy and a keen interest in road safety and opportunities for ethnic minorities within the media industry.

Annabell Renee McKenzie