The African American Factor in the Commodification of Ghana's Slave Castles

Abstract

Introduction Ghanaians have long perceived African Americans' as a factor in Ghana's socio-economic development. Soon after Ghana's independence President Nkrumah invited these Diaspora Africans to help with the country's development efforts. In recent years the Ghanaian government has projected Pan-African issues and the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, in particular, to draw what government officials characterize as '40 million strong middle-income African Americans' to the country. Conceptions about he African American factor seem to be premised on Pan-African images that essentialize brotherhood, cooperation and togetherness. On the contrary, my paper focuses on problems associated with such attempts at transatlantic enterprise; through a case study of the recent multi-million dollar project to restore Cape Coast and Elmina Castles for cultural exposition and tourism development. I highlight the complexity of such transatlantic intersections. The context of my paper rests with the contradictions between the Ghanaian authorities' quest for economic self-determination through the restoration and commodification of these World Heritage monuments, and African Americans' preference for preserving the same monuments as shrines not to be desecrated. These competing visions raise questions about commodification,

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