Year of Return: ‘It’s more than I expected’ – Akufo-Addo overwhelmed by turnout

President Nana Akufo-Addo has expressed extreme shock at the turn out of the "Year of Return" event which was earmarked to celebrate 400 years of slavery.

Speaking to a Haitian American journalist, Roland Martin, at the Jubilee House, he said although the initiative was designed to succeed, the results have exceeded his expectations.

“It’s more than I expected. We had hoped that it will have a big resonance but it has had a much bigger resonance than anticipated. It’s a shock alright, but it is a welcomed shock,” he said.

READ ALSO: Explainer: Ghana’s Year of Return and its benefits to the country

In September 2018, President Akufo-Addo launched the Year of Return in Washington, D.C for Africans in the diaspora to unite with other Africans on the continent.

At that event, President Akufo-Addo said, “We know of the extraordinary achievements and contributions they [Africans in the diaspora] made to the lives of the Americans, and it is important that this symbolic year, 400 years later, we commemorate their existence and their sacrifices.”

Since the launch of the Year of Return, Ghana has seen an array of African-American celebrities across the globe make their way into the country to unite with other Africans on the continent.

READ ALSO: 3,000 Groupe Nduom workers lose jobs; many more to suffers same fate– Nduom reveals

In other news, Information reaching YEN.com.gh indicates that President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo has launched phase two of the Year of Return dubbed the "Beyond The Return, The Diaspora Dividend" initiative.

The president, in a Facebook post, said there was the need to draw the curtains on the Year of Return.

He added that the time has come to engage Africans in the diaspora and all persons of African descent in areas of trade and what have you.

READ ALSO: Beyond The Return - Akufo-Addo launches phase 2 of Year of Return

Source: YEN.com.gh