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Rush for Ghanaian dishes in Lagos - As Akwaaba Africa Travel Market ends

Rush for Ghanaian dishes in Lagos as Akwaaba Africa Travel Market ends

A long queue of more than 200 people formed, with each person waiting patiently for his turn to sample the cuisines hyped by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GFA) in a presentation at the event.

The jollof war

Perhaps, the savoury glands of patrons were agitating furiously because earlier attempts to taste some Ghanaian food in a jollof contest were unsuccessful as immigration bureaucracy at the Benin-Nigeria border at Seme prevented the Ghanaian chefs from getting to the competition on time.

For a country whose citizens are no strangers to spicy food, kelewele was on the lips of the many Nigerians who sampled the spicy fried plantain.

“We eat fried plantain in Nigeria too but this one tasted differently and nice. The gari too was not bad at all. I have marked these two foods down for any time I visit Ghana,” a marketer, Mr Afolabi Taiwo, told the Daily Graphic.

For Ms Joy Ugochwukwu, a taste of the palava sauce was comparable to some local stews in Nigeria but eating it with boiled plantain was new to her.

While commending the organisers, the GTA and the chefs for giving the participants in Akwaaba Africa Travel Market a bite of Ghanaian dishes, she said it would have been greater in subsequent years to have a stand mainly for Ghanaian dishes, even if they were for sale.

Tema

At an event dedicated to Ghana and named ‘Ghana Day’, the acting Chief Executive of the Ghana Tourism Development Company, Mr Kwadwo Antwi, said Tema would soon take its spot among Ghana’s tourism destinations.

He said the country’s port city, which is famous for its Greenwich Meridian, would have among other things major landmarks to celebrate the city as the centre of the world.

Apart from the GTA, some Ghanaian hotels, including Royal Senchi and Oak Plaza hotels and Africa World Airline, participated in the three-day event.

Akwaaba Travel Market is the biggest travel and tourism fair in West Africa. The fair is the sub-region’s largest gathering of tourism authorities, airlines, tour operators and other players in the tourism industry.

It discusses pertinent issues affecting travel and tourism on the continent, celebrates achievements and honours persons whose contributions are building the tourism industries on the continent.

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