The Wakanda City of Return project has been launched in Cape Coast to pave way for the creation of an ultra-modern smart city that befits Cape Coast as a tourism hub.

The African Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI), two local companies and the City of Cape Coast that form the fulcrum around the building of the city say, they are leveraging on the heritage and cultural tourism assets of Ghana to create a place of pilgrimage for the people of African descent to know about their history, culture, civilization of Africa and our role in the creation of the new world economy.

The project, is a private sector-led initiative to develop the coastline and new areas of Cape Coast by creating a heritage experience with the provision of 5-Star hotels, retreat/ health resort, conference center, entertainment and the construction of the Ultra-Modern continental corporate headquarters for ADDI.

The organizers are convinced the timing of the project is apt as the country continues to benefit from the hugely successful "Year of Return" and the “Beyond the Return" tourism initiatives.

Speaking at the launch of the project, Chairman of the Wakanda City of Return, Dr. Kojo Benjamin Taylor explained Cape Coast as a tourist city could not be measured anywhere in Ghana and as a tourist centre, it didn’t have a project that fulfilled the tourism potentials it has.

Thus, the organizers thought of creating a project that would allow people to come to Cape Coast, stay for some time, enjoy its spiritual nature, enjoy the entertainment aspect of it, enjoy it through the communities and also enjoy the environment of futuristic event.

“They couldn’t have chosen a much better place than Cape Coast to build the Wakanda City of Return. I am proud to be the Chairman of the Wakanda 1 City. We will make this vision a reality. It takes only one person to kill an elephant for the whole village to enjoy and that’s what ADDI and some of us have embraced. I believe that part of the joys of life is to be able to invest in the lives of others and so we are ready to make it happen,” he explained.

The project talks about education, history, entertainment, food and hospitality of the people of Cape Coast and the Central Region.

“We have targeted a certain sector of tourism called the Heritage Tourism,” Dr. Taylor explained.

“Over 400 years ago, some of the people were separated from us physically but their umbilical cords were never cut from us and that’s how the whole conceptual design has been done to have an open arm,” he averred.

“When the story of slave trade is discussed, Cape Coast where the slave dungeons can be found is the best place fit for it. We’re talking about building a city. We are creating a concept that talks about the ingenuity we had before the arrival of the Europeans and we want to show to the world what we had before the slave trade and the activities in the dungeon,” he continued.

Dr. Taylor described some of the features of the historic city that would be built. He summarized them in the following:

African Shield: The shape of the project is like the various African shields our ancestors relied on to protect themselves. Our ancestors are warriors conquering and taking over territories. So, we took the inspiration from all of this. We will have a village within the Wakanda Return City called ‘Edzikanfo’ which simply means our forefathers who have gone before us.

Heritage Walk: On the left side of project is the heritage walk project. There’s a black street that’s actually a street that separates one side from the other. In front of you is the royal door of return.

Lighthouse (The Tower of Hope): We’ve lived with the lighthouse and they have been a source of hope for all of us. Lighthouses give hope to a sailor. The lighthouse known as the Tower of Hope has levels of stairways with a story around every single step. It’s not just a stair case.

Establishment of ADDI World Headquarters: Our goal is to create Wakanda return cities in different parts of Africa beginning with Ghana which happens to be the gateway of Africa.

A five-star Hotel: In this city would be a 5-star hotel that would make the place a destination for the international community and many influential individuals in Ghana. This will make them explore many investment opportunities and further turn the fortunes of the city around.

The Paramount Chief of Cape Coast, Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, expressed his optimism towards the opportunities that the project would create for the city of Cape Coast. He said it would open up the city. He called for an all hands-on -deck approach to enable the smart city to be delivered.

Osabarima believes the project should serve as a launch pad for other developments to follow. “We are trying to bring our brothers and sisters back home. The Wakanda project is a very good one; it will help develop where we come from. This is surely going to be the beginning of our unity, oneness and sense of purpose. I love the enthusiasm with which we have all gathered here,” he indicated.

Vice-Chancellor of the Cape Coast Technical University, Prof. Joshua Danso Owusu-Sekyere was upbeat all the technical and construction-related works could be provided by the Cape Coast Technical University.

He said, the University is happy that such a project is coming to where it operates and everything possible, both human and capital resources, could be used to realize the goals of the project.

President and founder of the African Diaspora Development Institute and former AU ambassador to the US, Ambassador Arikana Chihombori-Quao is rallying people across the world to make the project a bigger reality.

She commended the President, Nana Akufo-Addo and the mayor of Cape Coast, Ernest Arthur for the great role they have played leading to the birth of the project.

The ADDI (The African Diaspora Development Institute) is an entity that was born out of the realization that there is no one stop shop for everything African.

Thus, Business Communities around the world, African Diaspora, or people interested in African tourism have to visit 55 African countries in order to find out information about Africa.

They believe there’s definitely a need for a one-stop organization where people can go to get information about Africa. 

The two local companies involved in this joint venture with the African Diaspora Development Investment are The Pelicape Limited and Adepa Africa Investments.

The project is expected to create about three thousand (3,000) jobs in the Cape Coast area.

Also present at the launch were the Executive Secretary for the PANAFEST Foundation, Kohain Halevi, members of the diaspora community in Ghana as well as the members from the project communications directorate, Ibrahim Kwame Baidoo and Richmond Yaw Yeboah.