The Deputy Chief of Staff in-charge of Administration, Madam Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, has announced a policy shift aimed at transforming the global community into a permanent partnership.
She announced this at the second day of the Diaspora Summit on Saturday in Accra.
Speaking on the theme: Resetting Ghana: The diaspora as the 17th region, she stated the move represents a fundamental change in the state’s relationship with the estimated 3 million Ghanaians living abroad.
“This theme is not merely symbolic rhetoric,”it is a policy declaration and the strategic repositioning of Ghana’s relationship with her global family.” she noted.
She described the diaspora as an “integral, permanent, and indispensable” part of the nation.
According to her, the announcement comes as remittances from citizens in abroad reached $6.65 billion last year, a figure that surpasses earnings from several traditional exports.
She stressed that the diaspora’s value extends beyond money, encompassing skills, innovation, and networks.
Madam Oye added that, to anchor this new status, the government is implementing a results-based performance framework for the nation’s heads of missions and envoys abroad.
She said their effectiveness will now be measured, in part, by their success in mobilizing diaspora investment, facilitating skills transfer, and providing responsive consular services.
“The objective is very simple: clear pathways, predictable systems, and responsive governance for diasporan participation,” she said
She noted that further concrete steps include the creation of specialized commissions to advise the government, the development of a national diaspora engagement policy, and the expansion of consular protections for citizens overseas.
“The policy push also targets younger generations where the government plans to expand heritage tourism, cultural programs, and internship exchanges to sustain long-term ties with the children and grandchildren of the diaspora”, she added.
On his part, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. James Gyakye Quayson said the Diaspora office will implement the nation’s policy recognizing its global citizens as a “17th region.”
He framed the office’s mission as a form of national reparation. “This is reparation with a purpose,” he said.
The minister described the policy as a structured effort to restore dignity through partnership.
Joyce Adwoa Animia Ocran, ISD
