On 6 March, the official programme will proceed as usual. Speeches. A parade. Schoolchildren standing in the sun. It is important, yes. But if you want to feel independent, not just watch it, there is another place you should be.

The day after the flags go up, on Saturday, 7 March, a different kind of celebration is taking over East Legon. It is called Our Heritage through Music and Literature. And it is built on a simple idea: that Ghana’s freedom did not just happen in a conference room in 1957. It happens every time we tell our own stories.

Where the Stories Live

The event runs from midday until evening at the e-Ananse Library. If you do not know the name, you should. Ananse is the spider. The storyteller. The trickster who taught us that words have power. Holding an independence celebration in a place named after him tells you everything about what this day will feel like.

It opens with something quiet but necessary. A reading from Poetra Asantewa’s book, Someone Birthed Them Broken, put together with the Bibliophiles and Vibes Book Club. Before the music starts, before the crowd grows, there will be people sitting with a book, asking themselves what it means to be Ghanaian right now. That is the foundation.

Games That Remember

Between the literature and the music, the organisers have made space for something we do not do enough anymore. Play.

There will be outdoor and indoor Ghanaian games. The kind our parents played before screens arrived. It sounds simple. But watch a child learn ampe from an elder, or watch a tourist try to figure out our local board games, and you will see something shift. Culture passes from hand to hand in those moments. No lecture required.

Poetry That Listens

As the sun softens, the poets take over. Ancestors Answer Me is the name of the session, curated by Creatives Project Ghana. Four poets will stand up and try to connect the people who came before to the questions we are asking now. It could get heavy. It could get beautiful. Probably both.

The Evening Belongs to the Musicians

Then, the music.

TSIE, whose voice carries the weight of highlife and the lightness of now. Elsie Raad, who moves between genres like someone who refuses to be pinned down. Koo Kumi and Mr. Poetivist, both carrying the torch for spoken word and sound.

They will play acoustic. No heavy bass to drown out the thinking. Just voices and instruments, asking you to listen.

Why You Should Come

If you are visiting Ghana, you could spend your Independence Day weekend at a hotel pool. You would miss nothing but heat. Or you could come here, to East Legon, and sit in a room with people who are still figuring out what freedom means.

If you are Ghanaian, you could stay home. Or you could bring yourself and your questions to a place where we use music and words to do what Ananse always did—remind ourselves that the story is not over yet.

Date: Saturday, 7 March
Time: 12 pm – 8 pm
Location: e-Ananse Library, East Legon, Accra

A new initiative is shining a spotlight on the remarkable achievements of Ghanaian heritage in the United Kingdom with the launch of UK Black Stars 2026 — a list honouring 100 influential British-Ghanaians making major contributions across fields such as arts, finance, politics, entertainment and business.

The program, created to recognize outstanding British-Ghanaians in the UK, highlights individuals whose leadership, innovation and impact reflect both British society’s diversity and Ghana’s cultural influence abroad.

Parliamentary Celebration in London

On March 6, 2026, Ghana’s Independence Day, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ghana will host a special reception at the Houses of Parliament in London to celebrate honourees, including:

Actor and advocate, Adjoa Andoh

Journalist and author, Afua Hirsch

Music star, Stormzy

Footballer, Kobbie Mainoo

And a wide range of cultural figures, professionals, and creative leaders from across the diaspora.

The event, hosted by MP Bell Ribeiro‑Addy, aims to honor Ghanaian influence in Britain and foster connections between the diaspora and heritage communities.

A Platform for Representation

UK Black Stars emphasises the breadth of Ghanaian heritage influence in the UK, celebrating both established icons and emerging leaders. The list includes cultural innovators like Michaela Coel and creatives such as Fuse ODG, as well as professionals in finance, law, media and academia.

One notable name on the list is Afua Kyei, whose recognition as one of the UK’s most influential Black figures — including topping last year’s Powerlist 2026 — reflects the depth of Ghanaian impact across British public life.

Strengthening Diaspora Pride

The UK Black Stars platform also invites public nominations for future honourees, extending an opportunity for community members to elevate local leaders and unsung heroes.

As the event draws near, supporters hope the initiative will deepen appreciation for Ghanaian heritage and spotlight the significant roles British-Ghanaians play on the global stage — from culture and creativity to policy and public service.

For years, the unspoken rule of getting ahead was simple: guard your contacts, protect your knowledge, and climb the ladder alone. It created a lot of successful, exhausted women. It also left a lot of other women standing at the bottom, looking up.

This March, a gathering in Accra is betting on a different formula.

The 8th National Women’s Summit & Expo (NWSE) lands at the Palms Convention Centre on Friday, 13 March 2026, and the people behind it are asking attendees to try something that might feel uncomfortable at first: give.

Not your money. Your time. Your contacts. Your hard-won wisdom.

The “Give to Gain” Mindset

The theme this year is “Give to Gain.” It is not one of those corporate slogans that sound nice and means nothing. It is a direct challenge to the scarcity mindset that tells women there is only one seat at the table.

Organizers are pushing the idea that success actually multiplies when you share it. If you mentor someone, you learn something. If you open a door for another woman, you build an ally. If you invest in a female founder, you grow the economy for everyone. It is a shift from asking “How do I get mine?” to asking “How do we build ours?”

More Than a Day of Speeches

If you have been to a few conferences in your time, you know the drill. Nice keynote. Warm coffee. A brochure you throw away on the way out.

NWSE has been running for seven years now, and the people who go actually seem to do things afterwards. It pulls in a mix you don’t often see in the same room: corporate board members sitting next to students who just started their first business, bankers chatting with creatives, founders looking for capital sitting across from the people who control it.

This year, they are leaning hard into the practical stuff. There will be the usual panels on leadership and entrepreneurship, but the focus is on access—access to money, access to networks, and access to the kind of advice you usually have to buy a very expensive lunch to get.

The Speed Mentorship Sessions

One of the more useful parts of the day is the speed mentorship. Imagine sitting down with a woman who has already made the mistakes you are about to make, and she tells you exactly how to avoid them in ten minutes. No fluff. No business card collecting. Just a quick, honest conversation that might change your direction.

Who Is Showing Up

The partners backing this thing are names you trust: Charterhouse, Geisha, and MTN Ghana, with support from Bayport, Standard Chartered, and Bel-Aqua. That mix matters. It signals that this is not a side project or a “women’s issue” event tucked away in a small hall. It is a mainstream business platform.

If You Want a Table

Organizers are also putting out the call for vendors. If you run a small business, a startup, or a brand trying to reach women who actually make decisions, the Expo floor might be worth your time. Spaces are limited, and they tend to go to people who book early rather than people who think about it.

Why Bother?

The world does not need another event where people take photos and post inspirational quotes. What it needs is the thing this summit is trying to manufacture: actual connection.

In a time when everyone is selling a course or guarding their “secret sauce,” the radical act might just be opening your mouth and sharing what you know.

When: Friday, 13 March 2026, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Where: Palms Convention Centre, La Palm Royal Beach Hotel
Registration: Open now
Vendor/Partnership Enquiries: 020 471 4598 or 024 646 9062