Keypoints:
- UNESCO has added Highlife to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list
- The recognition coincides with 100 years of Highlife in 2025
- It follows Kente’s GI protection as another major cultural milestone
ON a humid Tuesday night in Accra, the Zen Garden pulses with sound, movement and memory. Highlife melodies spill into the open air as families, office workers and groups of friends sway long past midnight, turning an ordinary weeknight into something closer to a celebration.
Under soft lights, the four young men of the Kwan Pa band weave layered guitar lines and lilting rhythms into a live set that draws cheers and applause. White handkerchiefs twirl above heads as revellers dance, sing along and clink glasses, bound together by a sound deeply rooted in Ghanaian life.
‘It’s like therapy,’ one patron says, laughing as couples glide across the floor and strangers dance side by side.
UNESCO seals global recognition
That charged atmosphere has taken on added significance after UNESCO formally inscribed Ghana’s Highlife music on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list this month. The decision, announced on December 10, marks a major international endorsement of one of West Africa’s most influential musical traditions.
UNESCO described Highlife as a ‘monumental expression of Ghana’s musical genius, culture, and global influence’, recognising generations of musicians who have preserved and adapted the genre since the early 20th century.
The listing places Highlife among the world’s protected cultural expressions and is expected to boost Ghana’s cultural profile while encouraging greater investment in music preservation, tourism and the creative arts.
A symbolic year for Ghanaian culture
Highlife’s recognition comes in a year of rare international affirmation for Ghana’s cultural heritage. Earlier in 2025, Ghana’s iconic handwoven cloth, Kente, was granted international recognition as the country’s first officially protected Geographical Indication (GI) product.
A GI is an intellectual property right that links a product’s reputation, quality and distinctiveness to its place of origin. The designation protects traditional knowledge, strengthens brand value and opens wider economic opportunities for local producers.
The official GI launch was held on September 30 at the La-Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra, organised by the Registrar General’s Department in partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organisation. Cultural leaders, policymakers and creative industry stakeholders attended the ceremony.
With GI status, authentic Kente now stands alongside globally protected products such as Champagne from France, Tequila from Mexico and Darjeeling tea from India. The recognition safeguards Ghanaian weavers from counterfeiting while assuring buyers worldwide of quality and heritage.
From fabric to sound, living heritage endures
Cultural officials see a clear thread connecting Kente’s protection and Highlife’s UNESCO inscription: both are living traditions embedded in daily Ghanaian life.
For Asah Nkansah, leader of the Kwan Pa band, Highlife’s recognition is especially meaningful as the genre marks its centenary in 2025.
‘If you trace the origin of Highlife music, we can trace it to September 1925,’ Nkansah told AFP. ‘So this year, we are celebrating 100 years of Ghanaian Highlife music.’
At Zen Garden, that history feels alive. Patrons sing lyrics from memory, cheer extended guitar solos and dance spontaneously to palm-wine-infused rhythms.
‘Highlife talks about almost everything, passion, love, social and everything,’ Nkansah said. ‘It is not music for music’s sake.’
A living legacy, not nostalgia
Highlife has shaped Ghana’s national identity for decades, popularised by legends such as E.T. Mensah, Nana Ampadu, Paapa Yankson, A.B. Crentsil, Amakye Dede and Kojo Antwi, while influencing hiplife and Afrobeats.
UNESCO officials stress that, like Kente, Highlife is not a museum artefact. ‘It is not just a relic, but a living product,’ said Professor Osman Damba Tahidu, Secretary-General of the Ghana Commission for UNESCO, speaking to AFP.
Back at Zen Garden, as midnight approaches, the crowd shows no sign of leaving. Handkerchiefs wave again, laughter rises, and Highlife carries on, rooted in the past while moving confidently into the future.
