As Ghana celebrates its 50th anniversary of independence, CNN’s Jeff Koinange considers why many Ghanaians who have proved themselves abroad are now returning home

Once it was simply known as the Gold Coast, a British colony in west Africa bordering the French Ivory Coast. Then, one evening in March 1957, it made headlines when it became the first sub- Saharan nation to achieve independence from its colonial rulers. It changed its name to the Republic of Ghana and began a tumultuous journey that would take it through a series of transformations; from pan-Africanism, to military rule and finally to a multi-party democracy.

The 1960s and 1970s were a turbulent time for the young independent state. Every few years, it seemed, there was a coup d’état, until one day in 1979, a 31-year-old air force pilot decided enough was enough, staging what he termed a ‘People’s Coup’. It turned out to be a turning point, and a popular one, and flight lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings would go on to become the face of Ghana for the next 22 years, leading the way to a more economically stable government.

But the preceding instability had led to Ghanaians fleeing their country in droves, starting new lives abroad. Many would go on to become big names around the world and to become citizens of other countries, but none of them would deny they were first and foremost Ghanaians.

Perhaps the most famous Ghanaian ‘export’ is the man who for a decade dominated the airwaves and headlines as and ball control. Adu may now be a US citizen, but Ghanaians will be the first to tell you he is definitely still one of them.

But perhaps the most significant transformation of today’s Ghana is being made by what locals refer to as ‘returnees’, Ghanaians coming back to take over the reins of the economy and politics and to help shape their nation’s destiny.

One such returnee is 44-year-old Dominic Adu. Although no relation to footballing Freddy, he too is a successful Ghanaian. A top-notch investment banker, Adu spent 10 years working for the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), later renamed Actis. After spending 15 years in England, Adu says he grew tired of the corporate world. ‘It was the concrete ceiling, as opposed to the glass ceiling, that made me make the decision to come back home,’ he says. Adu, his wife, Florence, and their two children moved back to Ghana last year and he is fast making a name for himself, running a $35m project to build Ghana’s first shopping mall in the capital, Accra.

The mall will be home to more than 70 retail stores and will also include a supermarket, a cinema complex, food court and a host of other amenities. Says Adu: ‘It’s going to change the way Ghanaians do their shopping and it’ll transform their lifestyles by having everything under one roof.’

Adu first experimented with the idea of a mall with a $50m venture in the Nigerian commercial capital, Lagos, five years the secretary-general of the United Nations. KofiAnnan, the grey-haired, distinguished statesman who never seemed to raise his voice no matter how deep a crisis his organisation was in. Throughout the Gulf Wars and the crises in Darfur, North Korea, Congo and Liberia, Annan kept his cool. After more than 20 years at the UN, he has stepped down recently - and headed home to Ghana.

And there are others. Ozwald Boateng, the high-flying fashion designer who lights up catwalks from Paris to Milan, is part of the African diaspora. He now works in the UK, just off Savile Row, one of London’s most prestigious addresses and synonymous with the tailoring industry.

Other more recent Ghanaian wunderkinds include the teenage soccer sensation Freddy Adu, who is making waves in the Major Soccer League in the US. Sports writers often compare Adu to the great Brazilian, Pelé, due to his exceptional skill ago. That mall, The Palms, has turned out to be, according to locals, the biggest thing in Nigeria since the country discovered oil back in the late 1950s.

But Adu’s ambitions do not stop at Accra Mall (which is set to open its doors to the public in July 2007). He has also gone on to set up his own investment firm in Accra - Ghana Home Loans - offering long-term loans to first-time home buyers in Ghana and helping to fast-track the country into the 21st century. ‘Ghanaians are flocking to Ghana Home Loans,’ he says. ‘They are realising the joys of buying their own home and investing in the future of their country.’

Adu has no regrets about moving back to Ghana, he adds. ‘With the way the economy is going, this is the best time. But people shouldn’t come back with rose-tinted glasses. The market here isn’t what they might be used to out there, but the rewards are great.’

Another Ghanaian feeling the benefits of coming home is Edward Boateng. The 43-year-old spent 10 years in the US (studying and working for Time Warner, CNN’s parent company). He then moved to London where he was made Time Warner’s regional director for Africa. Several years later he felt he had gained enough experience and decided to branch out.

‘At the time it seemed like a foolish move to leave such a prestigious organisation, but it was time to move on and set up something of my own,’ he says. Boateng has gone on to start his own PR and television production company, Global Media Alliance (GMA), employing ambitious young Ghanaians educated in the US, UK, South Africa and Ghana.

Boateng has also recently acquired a radio station, a football team and has started a weekly newspaper – not bad for someone who has only been back in Ghana for four years. ‘This is the time to be in Ghana,’ he says. ‘Everything is in place and the pool of talent is bottomless. Fifty years on a new generation of Ghanaians is finally reaping the rewards of what their forefathers fought so hard to achieve.’

And there are many others: doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, businesspeople – all are coming back to reclaim their place in a fast-changing society. Their determination to succeed is not surprising when you consider how much money émigré Ghanaians have traditionally sent home; last year alone it was close to $2 billion. Now, much of that money is being worked back into the economy – by the same people who were once considered exiles.

Dr Gordon Appia is one such. A doctor and former officer in the Ghanaian army, he decided to make Australia his home for more than a decade. Now the neurosurgeon has returned and wants to continue his military service, helping to create a new, better trained Ghanaian army. Another recent returnee is Mawuena Dwomoh, who lived for many years in the UK. She too climbed as high as she could in the corporate world and decided it was time to come back home. She is now corporate affairs manager at South African mobile phone company MTN. The firm has offices in about a dozen African countries with an annual turnover calculated to be in the billions of dollars.

Dzigbordi Dosoo left Ghana when she was in her teens and spent more than 11 years in the US studying and working in the beauty and hospitality industries. After working for others, she decided it was time to branch out on her own and returned to Ghana to open the country’s first ever day spa, named Allure.

‘I’m glad I came back,’ she says. ‘It was challenging at first, but Ghanaians are great to do business with and the spa is a big hit. There’s simply nothing like it in the country.’ Dosoo also has two beauty salons in Accra and has plans to open a couple of others around the country. ‘My businesses currently employ around 104 Ghanaians. That benefits more than 1,000 people when you consider their extended families – not bad for an economy like Ghana’s.’

Dosoo manages to juggle her responsibilities as a mother and wife – she is married to the deputy governor of Ghana’s Central Bank – with her work, saying she makes two or three trips to the US every year. Glamorous as this sounds, Dosoo admits she gets homesick after a few days on the road. ‘Every time I go out there, I’m ready to come back home.’

Ghanaians abroad, she says, often ask her what it is like being back home. ‘I tell them Ghana these days is fantastic. If anyone is thinking of returning, they should do so gradually. Come for a couple of months at a time and see if they really like it. Don’t come for a couple of weeks. That won’t work. And if it feels right, then make the move now or it will never happen.’

Statistics indicate there are more than a million Ghanaians still living and working abroad, but they are slowly starting to trickle back and the word is spreading that Ghana is a great place in which to do business and to raise a family.

The country’s political environment is considered stable and the economy is growing at a rapid rate, making it possible for former financial exiles to make the decision to bring back their wealth of expertise and knowledge and use it where it is needed most – proving once again that as long as the systems are in place, a country’s nationals will have no reason to want to venture out in search of greener pastures.

Dosoo probably sums up the feelings of the returnees best: ‘East is east and west is west, but home is definitely best.’