Ghana travel guide

Ghana is made up of dozens of tribes – and many share more cultural characteristics with their neighbours in Burkina Faso or Togo, for example, than with other tribes in Ghana. People have migrated to this fertile land for millennia, traveling down from the Sahara, across from Nigeria, and from the ancient Empire of Ghana – which, interestingly, did not comprise any of modern Ghana, but instead covered parts of modern-day Mali, Mauritania and Senegal. The king of this empire was called a “Ghana”, meaning “warrior king”, and when the first Muslim explorers arrived here in around the 9th century AD, they used the word to describe the region. They were impressed by the amount of gold and the incredible organisation of the empire.

Over the centuries, ethnic groups established tribal kingdoms, many of which still exist in modern day Ghana. Some of the earliest were the Dagomba in the north, many of whom converted to Islam following the arrival of Muslim scholars and doctors. They retain their culture in the area around Tamale to this day. The Ashanti were the strongest and most famous tribe, and they established their own empire, centerd on Kumasi – which again, still exists. They conquered many territories, but permitted each tribe to retain their own chiefs and customs.

In the 15th century the first European ships arrived along the so-called Gold Coast, beginning with the Portuguese, in 1471. Realising the region’s enormous wealth – of gold, ivory, and pepper – they constructed the region’s first wooden fortress in 1482, now the imposing stone Elmina Castle. By the 1600s, Europeans were all over the coast, and forts and castles were being constructed by the Dutch, English, Danish and Swedish. Complex alliances were forged between the different nations and tribes, all to try and gain power and wealth, and the Europeans relied on the kings of the African empires to capture and supply them with slaves, so wars between tribes were encouraged. The horrific impacts of this era cannot be underestimated. Around 12.5 million African men, women and children were shipped to the Americas between the 15th and 19th centuries, captured from across Central and West Africa and sold onto European slave traders. Many died in the battles, more on the march across the continent, and more still in the ghastly dungeons where they were held – up to 1,000 at a time – before passing through a “Gate of No Return” to be loaded onto a slave ship, naked and shackled, packed in like cargo. Of the 12.5 million who reached the ships, around 2 million died on the journey.

Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands stopped their involvement in slavery in the late 1700s, Britain finally followed suit in 1807, and attempted to enforce a global ban, although it was nearly half a century before that became successful.

Throughout the19th century the British retained power along the coast, which was regularly invaded by the Ashanti, who wanted to expand their empire and have access to trade routes. This resulted in four Anglo-Ashanti Wars, the first of which lasted seven years, and the third of which culminated in the British seizing and burning Kumasi, the Ashanti capital. In 1874, the British were the last remaining Europeans in the Gold Coast (the region now known as Ghana) and declared it a British protectorate. The Ashanti’s power was weakened and their kingdom, too, became a colony in 1896.

The British still delegated local governance to the tribal chiefs, but they took big steps in changing traditional West African life. As well as exporting timber and gold, they introduced coffee and cocoa, the latter of which went on to form a major part of the Gold Coast’s economy. Schools were set up by missionaries, railways were constructed and hospitals and communications were all developed, and by the 1940s, the Gold Coast was the richest and most educated colony in the region. But education brought national consciousness, an understanding of colonial politics and a thirst for independence, aggravated by the poor treatment of ex-servicemen who had fought on Britain’s behalf during WW2. A nationalist movement was established in 1947, beginning with demonstrations, and ending with riots as police used violence to break up the previously peaceful protests.

Kwame Nkrumah was a Ghanaian intellectual, educated in Britain, who had been involved in the nationalist movement, and he created the Convention People’s Party (CPP) following the unrest. He soon gained a large following, instigating strikes and nonviolent resistance. The party won the vast majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly in 1951, and Nkrumah was elected Prime Minister the following year. The role was complex, as he was met by opposition from tribal groups for trying to centralise government – a move which he hoped might aid the colony’s bid for independence. In 1956, the assembly voted unanimously for independence from Britain, and the vote was accepted. The British colony of the Gold Coast became the independent state of Ghana on 6th March 1957 – the first black African nation to achieve independence. Nkrumah pushed for development, agricultural reforms and Pan-Africanism, seeing this as a way for the continent to overcome colonialism.

Opposition to the once popular Nkrumah grew, and in 1964 he turned Ghana into a one-party state. He was deposed of in a military coup just two years later, and the country remained very much divided along ethnic lines, and poverty was rife. A new government took over, supported by the military and police, and while Ghana remained peaceful despite opposition to the government and its policies (including strikes and failed coups), it was struggling economically, not helped by its dependence on cocoa – which at one point comprised 50 percent of its exports. In the 15 years after Nkrumah left, Ghana was ruled by eight governments.

Today, Ghana remains one of Africa’s most peaceful and stable nations, with a democratically elected government. Its infrastructure and education levels remain poor, and poverty is widespread; there is clearly much to achieve here. But Ghanaians are clearly resilient, optimistic and cheerful – with the hope of a bright future ahead.