Ghana President Heralds Historic Agreement to Build A World-Class W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Complex

NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- H.E. Nàna Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, heralded plans to construct a state-of-the-art museum complex honoring the legacy of world-renown black intellectual and civil rights pioneer W.E.B Du Bois (pronounced du boys) as an important symbolic monument.

"The museum will provide in Ghana, yet another important monument to the collective struggle of the African peoples to get their rightful place in this world," said President Akufo-Addo in his remarks prior to the signing of a historic partnership arrangement between the Government of Ghana and the W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation's affiliate in Ghana. The signing took place in New York City where the U.S. foundation is headquartered.

"Mr. President, let me reassure you of our commitment to making your beloved Ghana a hub of Pan-African research and heritage tourism," said Daniel Rose, Chairman of the foundation, as he kicked off the ceremony. Rose is a philanthropist and leading real estate developer with deep ties to Ghana.

Signing the agreement on behalf of the government were Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance, and Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture. Signing for the foundation were Japhet Aryiku, Executive Director of the U.S. foundation and  Humphrey Ayim-Darke, Board Member of the foundation in Ghana.

The partnership arrangement will grant authority for the foundation to construct a multi-million dollar museum complex to preserve Du Bois' legacy over a 50-year period. The complex will be designed by Sir David Adjaye, renowned Ghanaian architect and designer of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

The Du Bois Memorial Centre in Accra where Du Bois and his wife, Shirley Graham Du Bois, are buried. The ambitious museum complex will feature a museum, library and reading room, event hall, outdoor auditorium and amphitheater, lecture space, guest house for visiting scholars and the refurbished bungalow where Du Bois lived and worked until his death. The complex also includes a Memorial Pavilion, housing the remains of Du Bois and his wife.

Du Bois, who was a confidant of Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah, became a citizen of Ghana and resided in the country until his death in 1963. While living in Ghana, Du Bois envisioned building a unified ancestral home for Africans in the diaspora around the world.

President Akufo-Addo has invited the Africans Diaspora to follow the footsteps of Du Bois through the government's "Year of Return" and "Beyond the Return" campaigns.

Additional speakers and special guests at the signing ceremony  included Board Members Deborah Rose and Kwame Anthony Appiah, professor at New York University, Hon. Shirley Aryorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs, H. E Hajia Alima Mahama, Ghana's Ambassador to the USA.

Click here to access event photos.

Contact: Carol Pineau [email protected]  202-321-0570

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SOURCE W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation