The Ministry of Foreign Minister climaxed the Diaspora Summit 2025 with a formal Gala and Awards night, covering a two-day summit with a celebration of success and solidarity recognizing the diaspora as Ghana’s “17th region.”
Speaking at the ceremony on Saturday in Accra, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa pointed to the presence of global figures as proof of diasporic excellence, naming world champion boxer Azumah Nelson and Ashesi University founder Patrick Awuah.
He used the occasion to draw a direct line between celebration and action citing Ghana’s recent shipment of aid to Jamaica following a hurricane as evidence of the government’s commitment to diasporic solidarity.
“When we say come back home, let’s reunite, it’s not just empty rhetoric,” he stated. “You can judge us by our actions.”
Mr.Ablawka framed the quest for reparatory justice as a unifying, unstoppable campaign backed by growing international support.
“The momentum is on our side, everybody recognises that we have a just cause,” he confirmed a long queue of countries is ready to co-sponsor the planned UN resolution.
The Minister directly challenged narratives used to create division between Africans and the diaspora. “It was never the idea of any African to perpetrate the transatlantic slave trade,” he stated. “Those false narratives are cleverly manufactured so that we will not trust each other.”
The event honored individuals for their contributions to Ghana and the broader African community.
The ceremony focused on tangible accomplishments in business, education, the arts, and civil rights.
List of awardees:
LIST OF DS2025 AWARDS AND RECIPIENTS BY CATEGORY
CITATION
GLOBAL CATEGORY
1. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award, Pan African Excellence – Robert
Nesta Marley
2. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award Lifetime Achievement Award –
Rev Alfred Charles Sharpton
3. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Justice for Black People – Mr
Benjamin Llyod Crump
4. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Indomitable Spirit – Mr Mike
Tyson
5. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Global Business Excellence –
Mr. Aliko Mohammad Dangote GCON
6. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Research, Innovation and Technology – Dr Marylyn Martina Addo
7. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Excellence in Academia – Dr.
Patrick Awuah
8. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Sportsmanship – Azumah
Nelson
AFRICA CATEGORY
9. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Heritage Excellence – HRM
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II
10.Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Young Excellence – Danny
Manu
11. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Literary Arts – Ayi Kwei Armah Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Preservation of Black History
– Mr. Chris Hesse
13.Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Excellence in Institutional
Leadership – Ngozi Okonjo Iweala GHANA CATEGORY
14.Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Business Excellence in Ghana
– Mr Alex Dadey
15.Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Philanthropy and Social
Impact – Empower Playground
16.Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Film, Television, and Theatre
– Kwaw Ansah
17.Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Music and Sound Excellence –
Black Sheriff
18. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Music Legend – Kojo Antwi
19.Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Visual Arts – Prof Ablade
Glover
20.Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Fashion and Textile – Christie
Brown
21.Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Diaspora Award for Digital and New Media –
Berthold Kobby Winkler Ackon.
Joyce Adwoa Animia Ocran,ISD
