Ghana’s international profile as a tourist destination could hardly be lower and, if an assessment of the country’s potential were to be based on a visit to the capital alone, it would not be hard to see why. Accra is a hot, polluted city, more notable for its slums than its historic buildings and whose roads are gridlocked for much of the day. Its older buildings are crumbling and neglected, even as new office blocks spring up alongside them.

The country has nevertheless been quietly building a significant tourism industry, based mainly on visitors from the sub-region for whom the country is a haven of peace. Ghana plays host to about 650,000 tourists a year. Many of those who visit on a tourist visa may be drawn by the business opportunities Ghana offers as it develops into a trade hub for the region and beyond, says Jake Obetseby-Lamptey, minister for tourism and modernisation of the capital city.