The Zongo Development Fund Coordinator is proposing a Cultural Exchange Programme between the Zongo youth of Ghanaian descent in Germany and other European countries and the Zongo youth in Ghana.

According to Ben Abdallah Banda, this will help expose both youth groups to the socio-political and cultural difference of the two countries thereby encouraging knowledge sharing and promoting opportunities for both personal and community development.

We need to foster Cultural Exchange Programmes for Zongo youths of Ghana and Europe - Ben Banda

Ben Abdallah Banda has been on a one week tour of Europe, starting from Den Haag in Holland where he addressed an Europe-wide symposium organized by the Islamic group Sautu Sunnah Europe.

He emphasized on the invaluable contribution of the diaspora to the development of Ghana in terms of remittances, and investment in housing infrastructure.

From Holland, he traveled to Brussels where he met with the Zongo Muslim community there for a short interaction before heading to Hamburg in Germany.

We need to foster Cultural Exchange Programmes for Zongo youths of Ghana and Europe - Ben Banda

The biggest Ghanaian Community Mosque in Hamburg, Masqid Rahma, serving as the host organized several programmes to enable the Presidential Coordinator to interact with as many groups as possible.

At a special meeting with the youth groups, Mr. Banda explained the objective and mandate of the Zongo Development Fund and why it is necessary for the Ghanaian youth in the diaspora to get involved.

He encouraged the youth to learn about African cultural heritage and the political and economic systems.

We need to foster Cultural Exchange Programmes for Zongo youths of Ghana and Europe - Ben Banda

He observed that, their unique advantage of having access to both the European and African societies should be put to good use and to the development of both continents.

Mr. Banda also met with the community chiefs, imams, women groups and other Ghanaians in Hamburg and its environs.

The Zongo Development Fund was established in 2017 to provide financial resources to develop and transform the socio economic conditions of Zongos and Inner City Communities in Ghana.