Claim: President Akufo-Addo has claimed that the World Economic Forum Report 2021 Travel Index ranks Ghana as the number one tourism destination in West Africa.
Verdict: False. According to the World Economic Forum Report 2021 Travel Index, Ghana is the second tourism destination in West Africa. Cape Verde is the first.
Full Text
President Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, delivered the State of the Nation Address (SONA) to Parliament in accordance with Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution.
Per the Article, the President shall deliver a message on the State of the Nation to Parliament at the start of each session and before the dissolution of Parliament. The address highlighted the government’s key policy objectives for the year and provided information on how the government intends to address current economic conditions. The address was shown on major news outlets, including Joy News, Citi TV.
During the address, President Akufo-Addo claimed Ghana was the first tourism destination in West Africa. He cited the World Economic Forum Report 2021 Travel Index as the source of the claim. On Citi TV, the address has garnered over 3,000 views.
The full address in the text has also been published on myjoyonline.com. On Citi TV, the claim can be found from 1:36:19 – 1:36:30 of the telecast streamed on YouTube.
Verification
The World Economic Forum Report 2021 Travel Index measures the set of factors and policies that enable the sustainable and resilient development of the Travel and Tourism (T&T) sector, which in turn contributes to the development of a country.
The index, which is the most recent one, ranks over 117 economies on how best they are faring in their tourism sector.
Per the 2021 report, as claimed by President Akufo-Addo, Ghana has ranked 101 countries out of 117 countries as a tourism destination in the world. In Sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana was ranked 10th. This can be sighted on page 13 of the report.
According to the United Nations, West Africa includes the following countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte D’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
After analysing the rankings, DUBAWA discovered that Cape Verde is the first West African country before Ghana. In the world rankings, Cape Verde was ranked 82nd. In Sub-Sahara Africa, the country is ranked 6th, while Ghana was ranked 10th. This simply means that Cape Verde is the 1st tourism destination in West Africa, not Ghana.
| 2021 TRAVEL INDEX RANKINGS (WEST AFRICA) | |
| COUNTRIES | RANKINGS |
| Cape Verde | 1st |
| Ghana | 2nd |
| Senegal | 3rd |
| Cote DÍvoire | 4th |
| Nigeria | 5th |
Conclusion
The claim by President Akufo-Addo that Ghana is the number one tourism destination in West Africa, according to the World Economic Forum Report 2021 Travel Index, is false.
