Ghana earns $3.3 billion from ‘Year of Return’ As Boko Haram Politics, Cyber Fraud Deters Nigeria’s Tourism Image Abroad

Ghana earned US$3.3 billion from the Year of Return initiative, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Barbara Oteng-Gyasi has said.

According to her, the earnings were proceeds from accommodation, food, shopping, local transport and entertainment.

GHS6 million was, however, spent on promoting the Year of Return campaign in and out of the country.

The minister emphasised that the average expenditure per tourist was $2,391.

“By the end of 2019, the international arrivals reached 1.13 million from 956,372 in the year 2018 which was 27% growth which was above the global average of 5%. The average expenditure per tourist increased from $2,708 in 2018 to $2,931 in 2019. The receipts attributed to tourism is, therefore, $3.312 billion.

The increased number of travellers to Ghana positively impacted five sector industries such as airlines, hotels, tour operators, restaurants, and arts and craft dealers to name a few,” she said when responding to questions in Parliament today, 28 May 2020.

Meanwhile Nigeria, which is described as Africa largest economy is locked up in local Regional religious politics And crisis which has damaged the country’s image on the eyes on Africa Americans and other African descendants abroad.

According to reports Nigeria’s Tourism Revenue reached 2 USD bn in Dec 2018, compared with 3 USD bn in the previous year.

Nigeria’s Tourism Revenue data is updated yearly, available from Dec 1995 to Dec 2018. The data reached an all-time high of 2,615 USD mn in Dec 2017 and a record low of 47 USD mn in Dec 1995.

The World Bank provides annual Tourism Revenue in USD.

, Boko Haram, while significantly degraded, continues to slaughter soldiers and citizens across northeastern Nigeria and in neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, where its fighters often hide out and civilians often flee. The crisis has left 27,000 people dead and roughly 2m displaced.

It has also cost Africa’s largest economy, and its biggest crude oil producer, as much as $9bn according to the army’s top commander, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai.

The jihadi group, which has split into two factions, appears to be escalating its attacks and building its arsenal.

The security situation in north-east Nigeria is deteriorating, sparking criticism of the military’s strategy, complaints from under-equipped troops despite billions in defence spending and pressure on Mr Buhari, a retired general, as he seeks re-election in February.

Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram remains one of the region’s deadliest conflicts despite a major military offensive to contain the African Islamist militant group and support from international partners. A new study of the conflict offers fresh perspective on how lethal it has been, especially for civilians, and the pattern behind Boko Haram’s attacks. Since 2009, the Boko Haram insurgency has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, and violence by militants and security forces continues daily.

The study shows that though Boko Haram’s territorial control is now limited to some small villages and pockets of countryside, a shift in tactics has helped the group stay a threat to millions.

It has turned to suicide bombings, which accounted for almost a third of all casualties in the first half of 2018, and has increasingly attacked Muslim places of worship.

It continues to challenge government authority in Nigeria’s northeast and beyond, and it reportedly collects taxes and provides some services in areas it controls.

Boko Haram’s Geographic Reach

Boko Haram–related violence has largely been confined to Nigeria’s northeast, in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. It has been most heavily concentrated in Borno, with the brunt of the violence borne by Maiduguri, Gwoza, and Kukawa. Violence has also become common south and east of Maiduguri, along the border with Cameroon’s Far North Region, and around Lake Chad. There have been sporadic incidents in places such as Nigeria’s Middle Belt and the capital of Abuja that have been attributed to Boko Haram.

Terrorism and Counterterrorism
In the country’s south and east, including major cities such as Lagos and Port Harcourt, Boko Haram–related violence is all but absent. That part of Nigeria is majority Christian and comprises many different ethnic groups but has few Kanuri. Boko Haram is reportedly largely composed of Kanuri, and many of its victims, if not most, are Kanuri as well. Notably, there is considerable ane