Keypoints:
- Ghana launches Ghana House ahead of Glasgow 2026
- Sport platform targets trade, investment and tourism
- Diaspora and investors urged to support project
GHANA has launched Ghana House, a national trade, investment, tourism and cultural platform designed to run alongside the Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2026, as officials seek to turn the global sporting event into a wider vehicle for economic diplomacy.
The initiative, unveiled at the Ghana High Commission in London on Wednesday, July 8, is intended to promote Ghana’s investment opportunities, exports, tourism potential, creative industries, youth enterprise and sporting excellence to international partners.
Sport as economic diplomacy
Launching the project on behalf of the Government of Ghana, Deputy High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Aquinas Quansah, said Ghana House represented more than a ceremonial presence at the Commonwealth Games.
He described the initiative as ‘a national statement of intent’ and said Ghana was ready to use international platforms to promote its economy, culture, investment opportunities, tourism potential, creative industries, youth and sporting excellence.
Quansah said Ghana House gives practical meaning to the country’s economic diplomacy agenda by ensuring diplomacy opens markets, connects investors, supports exports, promotes tourism and projects the national brand.
‘Diplomacy must create opportunities. It must open markets. It must connect investors. It must promote exports. It must support tourism. It must empower the youth. It must project the national brand,’ he said.
Platform beyond the Games
Ghana House will showcase national programmes including the Big Push and the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme, alongside other initiatives aimed at creating jobs, expanding exports and driving economic transformation.
Richard Akpokavie, President of the Ghana Olympic Committee and Commonwealth Games Association of Ghana, said major international sporting events now offer countries a platform to compete for investment, tourism, innovation, trade opportunities and global partnerships, not only medals.
He said Ghana House had been conceived to ensure Ghana maximises the opportunities created by the Commonwealth Games.
‘Today, Ghana House stands as a unified national platform through which Ghana will present its story to the international community,’ Akpokavie said.
He said the project would promote Ghanaian products and services, attract foreign direct investment, facilitate trade partnerships, showcase tourism and creative industries, support export development, promote youth entrepreneurship and reinforce Ghana’s ambition of positioning itself as a gateway to the AfCFTA market for global investors and exporters.
Akpokavie said the initiative also complements Ghana’s wider 24-hour economy strategy centred on agro-industrial growth, helping connect local producers with international markets.
Diaspora role highlighted
Speakers at the launch placed strong emphasis on the role of the Ghanaian diaspora in the United Kingdom, describing it as central to the success of the project.
Quansah said the diaspora had long supported Ghana through remittances, investment, skills transfer, advocacy, business partnerships, philanthropy and cultural promotion.
He urged Ghanaians in the UK to bring their networks, businesses, professional contacts and influence to bear on the Ghana House initiative.
Akpokavie also called on Ghanaian businesses, manufacturers, exporters, innovators, tourism operators, creative industry practitioners and entrepreneurs to participate in the project ahead of Glasgow 2026.
Coordinated national effort
Kobena Woyome, Chairman of the Ghana House Project and Coordination Committee, said the initiative had evolved from an idea to create a Ghanaian presence around the Commonwealth Games into a coordinated national platform for projecting Ghana to the world.
He said consultations had involved Ghana’s Chief of Mission to the Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth Sport, the Ghana Olympic Committee, government institutions and strategic partners.
The programme brings together the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry; the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts; the Ministry of Sports and Recreation; the Ghana High Commission in the UK; the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre; the Ghana Export Promotion Authority; the Ghana Tourism Authority; the Ghana Tourism Development Company Limited; the Youth Employment Agency; the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council; and ASA Plus Destination, the appointed event organiser.
Woyome said the committee had harmonised the roles of the various institutions into an integrated framework covering trade and investment promotion, tourism marketing, cultural presentation, export development, diaspora engagement, youth employment, sports diplomacy, media engagement, business-to-business meetings and follow-up mechanisms after the Games.
What happens next?
The next phase will focus on finalising arrangements in the UK and Glasgow, completing participation and accreditation processes, supporting visa facilitation for approved participants, mobilising exhibitors and business delegates, securing sponsorship and intensifying media publicity.
Woyome said funding remained a critical priority and appealed to Corporate Ghana, sponsors, development partners, business leaders and members of the diaspora to support the initiative.
Officials said Ghana House also builds on recent Ghana-UK investment cooperation, demonstrating the country’s efforts to deepen commercial partnerships with British businesses.
If successful, Ghana House could strengthen Ghana’s use of sport as a tool of economic diplomacy, projecting the country not only as a sporting nation but as a destination for investment, tourism, culture, enterprise and international partnership.
