Managing Director, Afrocultour Limited, Chuks Akamadu, believes Africa needs to redefine its perception of tourism, from mere leisure and sightseeing to a viable economic growth driver. He challenges policymakers across the continent to shift focus and invest in tourism as a strategic business sector capable of creating jobs, attracting foreign exchange, and boosting infrastructure development. Charles Ajunwa brings the excerpts:

Some experts are calling for partnerships and collaborations to boost tourism in Africa. While others are advocating home-grown models. What is your take on this? 

I do not see the conflict between the two. I am for partnerships and collaboration where countries interface bilaterally and multilaterally within the precincts of mutual gain. On the other hand, I find home-grown models desirable where they best suit the peculiar tourism realities of individual nations. For instance, the five tourism clusters we have in Nigeria namely the Tropical Rainforest, Conference Capital, Atlantic Gateway, Scenic Nature and Sahara Gateway, with their distinctive features. There is nothing stopping say the Tropical Rainforest cluster from partnering Atlantic Gateway provided there is profit to share and at the same time paying adequate attention to home-grown models that would enable it to outperform its peers including its partner-Atlantic Gateway. I am for healthy competition and profitable collaboration if they are embraced for the ultimate purpose of gain, growth and sustainable development. I do not see them as being mutually exclusive.   

 The World Tourism Council recently gave a list of top 10 tourism economies in the world and there was no African country on that list. What are the key lessons, and what do you think can be done to ensure that African countries become part of that list? 

 Africa has to first of all see tourism as a business as opposed to leisure, then realise that it has a comparative and competitive advantage in it. That would pave the way for us to interrogate the reason our performance has consistently been suboptimal. At that point issues such as deficit in tourism infrastructure would pop up and perhaps, we would also begin to ask ourselves why “holiday” to the average African necessarily means overseas trips. Rather more importantly, we need the requisite political will and commitment on the part of our leaders to achieve this. We must cherish and patronise what we have. The truth of the matter is that we treat our tourism resources with undeserved scorn; so, how would others then live their regions to come experience our rich culture and savour our unique heritage sites. Yes, we have had the misfortune of being defined by others in the past, but it’s high time we dropped those false tags. We need to project ourselves and our heritage positively, so as to attract the envy of Asians, North Americans Europeans and Australians. That’s where the marketing and branding starts from. As for the key lessons, I think that Africa not being amongst the world’s 10 foremost tourism economies harshly reminds one that the economic problem of Africa is neither ancestral nor spiritual. It is on the contrary the direct outcome of our choices as a people. Put differently, it is an indictment on us for failing or refusing or neglecting to deploy that which we are lavishly blessed with to improve our socio-economic conditions. What this means if that future is in our hands. We are at liberty to preserve or squander it. Yes, we might not be early birds, but we do have an opportunity in the Expo to look ourselves in the mirror and embrace home truths, with a view to taking our economic destiny in our own hands, and on the tourism superhighway.      

Can you tell us what the Africa Tourism and Creative Economy Expo (AFTCREE) coming up in Abuja this November is all about?

The AFTCREE is a timely response to the deplorable disparity in global trade, where the entire continent, regardless of our tourism and creative industry assets and potential, contributes less than three per cent. This is beneath us. The expo is likewise designed to address the concerns of African nations and industry leaders who lament the current situation where the continent boasts of a paltry five per cent share of global tourism revenue valued at over $11 trillion. But without looking too far, the theme of the Expo captures its very essence: ‘Optimising Africa’s Comparative and Competitive Advantage for Accelerated Trade and Economic Growth’. From Nigeria to Algeria; from Egypt to Tanzania, and from Rwanda to Kenya, Africa boasts of unique tourism resources that can be harnessed to give other regions of the world a good run for their money. If you also come to the creative industry, we are no longer in the 70s, 80s and 90s when Africa was more or less under the yoke of Western music and motion picture industry. 

Things have since changed, for Afro music to be gaining incremental ascendancy globally and our artistes like Burna Boy, Fally Ipupa, Davido, Asake, Tyla, Diamond Platnumz, Wizkid, name them, making Africa proud in the global entertainment firmament. Ditto the movie industry where Nigeria now ranks second globally. It is therefore paradoxical that we still hold the short end of the stick in terms of global trade share and global tourism revenue share. So, the expo presents a platform for policy makers, industry leaders, investors, scholars, and practitioners across Africa to collectively identify possible gaps, share experiences and cross-fertilise ideas on how best to harness Africa’s abundant tourism and creative industry resources for inclusive and mutually-supportive trade and economic growth. While the expo might not be a cure-all, it is, at a minimum, a timely strategic intervention that would reposition the tourism and creative industries on the continent and individual nations-states of Africa for sustainable growth and development. More than anything else, it is set to boldly supply the private sector buy-in and collaboration required for optimal economic outcomes and trans-generational impact.

Who are your target audience and the resource persons?

The expo will feature policy dialogue, business and investment forum, peer review session, gala night, among others. We have a number of countries like Algeria, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago and United Arab Emirates whose relevant ministers have been selected as lead speakers. The Director General of World Trade Organisation, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development as well as the Head of Mission of Afreximbank are also on our keynote speakers’ list. We are also expecting a strong delegation from African Union Commission; and Nigeria being the host country, a select number of governors whose states are culturally rich and tourism-strong will also be on ground to support the expo’s official host, Hannatu Musawa, Minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy. 

How can this expo you’re putting together impact on Nigeria’s tourism industry in particular and Africa in general? 

Primarily, the expo will make a strong case for the mainstreaming of culture and tourism into the struggling economies of African nations with convincing logic, statistics, empirical evidence and case studies. Because research has shown that one of the major reasons why we are where we are today is that a majority of African countries have yet to recognise tourism as a major economic driver and a veritable path to economic diversification, hence the levity with which they treat that potential money-spinner as though it’s a sector that deserves to be domiciled in the domain of leisure – not business. This explains, in part, why Africa is left behind on issues of destination management, tourism infrastructure, regulatory framework, packaging and marketing of tourist sites. The impact therefore is going to be huge on both Nigeria and Africa because the expo aspires to prevail on leaders and policy makers to rethink their unhelpful notion of tourism, provide a basis for its prioritisation and voluntarily make a commitment for a speedy departure from our old ways, so as to enable Africa contribute at least 10 per cent to global trade and take home at least 20 per cent share of global tourism revenue respectively by the year 2030. Here is an opportunity for Nigeria as the host country to lead from the frontlines, and we are glad that the federal government appreciates our efforts and is solidly behind us. 

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