From Tourism to Trade: Ghana and the Bahamas Unite

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Fashion, jewelry, skincare and accessories made by Ghanaian designers all on full display at the Afri-Caribbean showroom.

Some Bahamian and Ghanaian officials believe The Bahamas’ strong tourism industry, and the millions of visitors it attracts each year, creates significant opportunities for trade and investment.

Richard Mensah – Secretary General, Afri-Caribbean Trade And Investment Chamber

“Just last year, looking at the tourism numbers that we saw, close to six million per 2025, the data that we connected to. So though the number or the population seems four hundred thousand to five hundred thousand population, but the tourism is great. The tourism is big, and in every country, where tourism comes to live and then to pass through. Whenever they come, what they do is to spend. They spend within what they have their hands reached to. And that is the opportunity we have identified.”

Officials also emphasize that trade is about more than just numbers. It’s about people, culture and building lasting relationships between the two countries.

Chairman of the Bahamas Trade Commission, Barry Griffin, explains how that partnership is taking shape…

Barry Griffin – Chairman, Bahamas Trade Commission

“In trade, trade is a people-to-people partnership. You must go to new markets, you must meet people, you must exchange views, you must learn about each other’s markets and culture and history, and build a foundation of friendship. So right now, we are in the process of building that foundational friendship with Ghana. And this is one of the true real fruits of that labor. This showroom, that is dedicated to the creative economy of Ghana and Africa as a whole, and its partnership and collaboration with The Bahamas and the Caribbean as a whole.”

Mensah also outlines how the creative economy could unite two regions…

Richard Mensah – Secretary General, Afri-Caribbean Trade And Investment Chamber

“Some of the most immediate activity that we are working on is the fashion lines, the clothing, and then all that. The last time we met in Ghana with some Bahamian delegation, we realized there are pieces and pieces and pieces of activities that we believe, when we put together the pieces of the puzzle, putting together, it really makes a full body. That making a full body means that you are all one. So I believe the fashion bit of it coming together, the music industry, entertainment coming together, and then the creative art entirely, making it more alike of a country or two nations working closely for a specific purpose.”