I am in Polokwane, Limpopo Province, South Africa, attending the 8th edition of the Africa Tourism Leadership Forum, which has brought together tourism and hospitality stakeholders from across Africa to discuss how to grow travel, investment and tourism on the continent.
There is music, dance and colour everywhere just like two years ago when I attended the same event in Gaborone, Botswana.
But what catches my attention is something else.
South Africa’s Tourism Minister, Patricia de Lille, and the Premier of Limpopo Province, Dr. Phophi Ramathuba who ranks as a Regional Minister in Ghana, walk past, both dressed in Ghanaian Kente. For a Ghanaian journalist here in Polokwane, the sight is difficult to miss.
And perhaps more so because of what has been happening between Ghana and South Africa in recent times, particularly over migration and anti-immigrant protests.
Just days ago, the Ghanaian government declined a proposed GH¢20 million support package from MTN Ghana for Ghanaians affected by xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
MTN Ghana is a subsidiary of South Africa’s MTN Group, making the development another point of interest in the already sensitive Ghana-South Africa relationship.
So, why the Kente?
When I later spoke to South Africa’s Tourism Minister, Patricia de Lille, she explained that she had bought the fabric during her last visit to Ghana at the beginning of the year.
And during her speech at the forum, she explained further why she and the Premier had chosen to wear Ghanaian outfits. She said the gesture reflected her Pan-Africanist convictions and Ghana’s historic role in Africa’s liberation.
She said “I’m a Pan-Africanist.And Premier what we are celebrating today, with both of us wearing our Ghanaian outfits, is because Ghana was the first country on the continent to get out of the shackles of colonialism and gain their freedom. So I love Ghana. I love the continent. I’m a Pan-Africanist,”
De Lille said Africa cannot build an integrated tourism economy if Africans cannot easily and seamlessly reach one another, calling for governments, airlines, airports and the private sector to work together to open viable routes, increase frequencies, reduce fares and make inter-African travel more affordable
. “Because Africa must visit Africa. Africa must invest in Africa. And Africa must explore Africa,” she said.
The issue of Migration was also part of her message. South Africa has faced growing public debate over irregular migration, and the treatment of African migrants has become a particularly sensitive issue.
De Lille said South Africa has a responsibility to manage its borders and enforce its immigration laws, but insisted this should not be seen as South Africa turning its back on the continent.
“Managing irregular migration must never be confused with closing South Africa off from Africa,” she said.
She argued that South Africa needs both secure borders and an open tourism economy, allowing lawful travel, trade and economic activity to continue.
For Kwakye Donkor, Chief Executive Officer of Africa Tourism Partners, the Africa Tourism Leadership Forum is an example of what tourism can do for African destinations.
The author, pictured in a Ghanaian Fugu/smock with South African Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille.
He says hosting the event in Limpopo has given the province exposure to people who previously knew very little about it.
According to him, delegates from about 32 countries and people from over 60 individual countries are currently at the event, while thousands more have been exposed to Limpopo and Polokwane through the marketing and publicity around the forum.
He said the benefit is not simply about the number of people attending. It is also about putting Limpopo on the map.
“So the benefit of such events is not just about numbers; it’s about priceless brand equity, priceless visibility,” he said.
He believes Limpopo Tourism Authority could not have achieved the same level of exposure by travelling to all those countries individually to promote the province.
And so, while the Kente may have been the first thing that caught my attention here in Polokwane, the message behind it is much bigger. At a time when migration is creating difficult conversations between African countries, the tourism industry is making a different argument, that Africa needs to find ways to connect its people, markets and destinations. And here in Limpopo, Ghana has found itself at the centre of that conversation, quite literally in Kente.
