any one been to African countries from the diaspora in the last year to few months especially Ghana?

I don't expect it much with most in this crowd but figured I'd ask?

Anyone planning to go?

I've been to Ghana and I'm looking to go back soon as well as check out several neighboring countries.

https://www.yearofreturn.com/

Anyone considering expatriation or dual citizenship?

plus when i go to Africa for the first time, I want my sons with me...

that can't work this year...maybe next year

but I looked at that site and it made me tear up, honestly

I feel like a Lost Child...

d

I keep telling my friends to pick a country and go.

It's a couple of ways to make it more affordable.

There is a black owned site called air affordable that allows you to break plane ticket payment into 2week 3week and monthly payments. They add a charge for their service for like 100 dollars.

Cheap o flights does something similar but I think they go by credit score.

Other than that its time of year you looking to go and from what city.

I'm looking at $560 flights to Kenya and South Africa right now.

when I first started posting here I posted about moving there
rather leaving here and going there.
players clowned me lol
talking about, “yeah, right”
thought about it as I read the post...

the timing wasn’t right for me
I’d love to go tho

I know the type.

What is stopping you from going now?

... :-)

(i'm from kenya).
there are direct flights from nyc to nairobi on kenya airways.

out of the three... i'd love to move to zambia.
it was quite lovely (and affordable).
plus the victoria falls are the most amazing place i've been to.

rwanda... not really.
kenya... too expensive.
tanzania, yes... if i can live in dar-es-salaam (by the indian ocean) owith easy access to zanzibar

in... 2017?
i'd love to go to senegal
and perhaps ghana one of these days
but senegal is #1 on my list.

Nigeria too.

and they love it.

I plan to get to East Africa next year trying to decide between Kenya, Tanzania or Ethiopia.(Probably which ever one is cheaper at the right time)


Never thought about Zambia.

least favourite is kenya (it's too expensive- we cater for european tourists, tbh)

country that will offer most (in terms of history, food, places?)
ethiopia -and its not as expensive.
you can fly into addis (direct flights from d.c.)
and ethiopian airlines does a really good job with internal connections
I went to lalibela (where the old churches hewn into rocks in the shape of a cross are),
axum (i believe this is where the queen of sheba's palace was <- although it was a pile of rocks, lol),
bahir dar (where the blue and white Nile meet)
and there's other places as well- just speaking of where i've been to. Ethiopia is quite lovely and food is amazing.
(addis abeba is awful though, so don't plan to stay in the capital. i've been several times, awful.).

tanzania- dar is really pretty if you like the beach.
i'd go in february to attend the sauti za busara music festival in zanzibar (4 days of music from all over africa and the diaspora) and amazing food.
other than that though... its a bit...boring.


zambia. victoria falls is definitely worth seeing. either from the zambia or zimbabwe side.
and once in southern africa- you can also do capetown (lovely), lesotho (a beautiful mountainous little ass country), mozambique (only been to maputo, though).

The experience even in economy is pretty comfortable and the staff is very accommodating. They also keep the Europeans from acting a fool. I haven't had the chance to travel outside of Addis Ababba, but I hear other parts of the country are beautiful.

to the point i'm never ever taking it ever again
and bole airport is trash. like thee worst. they spent so much on the exterior and totally forgot about the interior

i've literally taken the train to NYC to catch emirates to dubai then kenya
even though its a longer flight (but the A380 is a lovely plane),
and now that KQ flies direct from JFK to Nairobi... doubt i'm ever taking ethiopian

now....their flights within africa are quite good
(preferable to KQ which is trash on the continent.
the last flight i took on KQ the PILOT did not SHOW UP TO WORK
and they didn't tell us until like 3 hrs later (kept saying operations issues).
I was going to Kigali on a sunday for a monday morning meeting and instead spent the night in a trash ass hotel KQ put us up in
ugh.

And by the look of my finances, it might take until I'm 80 to have the money to go.

But I think it would be affecting. None of the people in my social circle have been, and it's cliche to say but hearing rappers talk about going to Africa and being deeply humbled and empowered visiting makes me want to go.

Maybe to Ghana. I'd like to take a Slave-Trade tour:
https://www.tripsavvy.com/slave-trade-tours-in-west-africa-1454313

as there are several ways to make payments on a plane ticket(which usually is the most expensive thing on the trip).

Ghana has the most slave forts of any country in Africa and the oldest (Elmina).

Go pick a country and go.

but family reunion was the same weekend in our city and fam guilted me into staying for that lol

ghana got a lot of events planned, i wonder if other nations will copy the format

alot of folk talking about afrochella around new years too. last year had a bunch of US celebs there
but that is apparently when everything is most expensive


if they laid out the dual citizenship and land rights/business license processes CLEARLY, they would get more folk to jump in longterm

at the same time, of course the chinese and euro's aint worried abt citizenship, they just chasing the money.



me, i probably got enough money saved up now but still not ready to cut the cord/take the leap for good

but if i go and see some biz prospects that may be enough to get pulled in that direction

I'm hoping other countries especially the ones we have ancestry from directly get in the same mind set though Ghana is different primarily because of Kwame Nkrumah who spear headed the Garvey vision before being uprooted by dissident forces with the help of the CIA.

You are right the guidelines to acquiring land are not clear at all but the one consistent thing I am seeing is take your time get someone you trust to help you and check with proper government authorities to make sure land is not being resold.

I see so many business opportunities in Ghana it's scary and nothing major just everyyday things, construction, plumbing, recycling, etc etc etc

So structural development is lacking for tourism, but also the language barrier is just a great dividing wall between the English and Spanish speaking diaspora and what's going on in francophone (ie the majority) of west Africa

Even right now Cameroon is having a conflict between French and English speaking Africans SMH.

In the last year I've been to Nigeria (Lagos), South Africa, and now Ghana. Accra is definitely welcoming and easy to get around, especially compared to Lagos.

I actually knew nothing about the whole Year of Return thing until I got there; several people were asking if that's why I was there. But I went for a tech conference.

I'm a dual citizen of US/Nigeria so I can't speak to the repatriation thing, but I am very proud of holding citizenship in Nigeria. My passport covers Ghana (all ECOWAS countries) so I didn't even need a visa for entry.

I'd return to Accra in a heartbeat. Uber is reliable there and the currency is 5:1 with USD so you can most things for fairly cheap prices.

Let me know if there's any questions you have and I'll try my best!

Was it about tech in general or specfic to what's going on in Ghana?

Are you from Nigeria or did you get citizenship after being born outside of country?

I'm seeing a lot of Nigerians talk with disapproval of Buhari and need for Nigeria to be broken up. What is the sentiment you see and have?

>Was it about tech in general or specfic to what's going on in
>Ghana?

It was a tech conference centered around the programming language Python (conf was called Pycon Africa). So not Ghana-specific, but in hindsight Accra was a great choice for a pan-African gathering. It was amazing. My 3rd time speaking in Africa. My goal in the next phase of my career is to live and work in West Africa.


>Are you from Nigeria or did you get citizenship after being
>born outside of country?

Got citizenship later. I was born in Texas. A fun fact is that my dad and I received citizenship at the same time, because he fled Nigeria in his teens due to the Biafran war.

>I'm seeing a lot of Nigerians talk with disapproval of Buhari
>and need for Nigeria to be broken up. What is the sentiment
>you see and have?

I'll fully admit I probably don't have enough context to give an informed opinion, but the sentiment I get from my family is that the gov leaves Igbos feeling disenfranchised and unrepresented. And that Buhari/Tinubu often speak in direct opposite to what they do. I hate to think about a separated Nigeria.

after looking at raspberry pi computers.

I am seeing a lot of talk about Igbo people wanting their own nation from folks in the states who moved here and online with people currently living in Nigeria.

Interesting.

Going to do the tours and some of the planned return activities. Considering getting a Ghanaian passport just cause. From what I understand, their application rules are lighter this year for people from around the diaspora.

and couldn't do it.

Do you have ancestry directly from Ghana(parents, grands etc)

I forgot to exchange my dollars at the airport and got by on the kindness of strangers the entire trip. I don’t recommend trying this on purpose though LOL

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

Would you consider living there?

Went to Uganda a couple of years ago and it's a beautiful place.

I try to tell my friends with family to pick a country and go.

According to a lot of my Ghanaian friends, it's pretty much a tourist trap designed to make money. I attended the University of Ghana for a year, and I go back to work/visit every other year or so. There are better ways to experience Ghana, especially for African Americans looking to connect with their roots. I wish I could make it to AfroChella though. It looks dope.

but then I went and it is really opening a few doors and connections with people directly from the continent and those that have moved from the US.

I think it is a start and what you make it. Is Ghana profiting from tourism of course is that an angle of course but I'm seeing potential opportunities.