Black Family Table Talk
Black Family Table Talk
S6:E7 | Here's Why Ghana is Trending
In this episode, we sit down with the young Georgian, who Black Enterprise Magazine calls "The Leader of the Ghanian Renaissance". L. Nzingha Samuel is fiercely determined to build safe communities for Black people to come home, back to the Motherland.
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But E and Z's project launch is kind of focused on specifically developing in Ghana and not just this complex but industry development like really tangibly contributing to Ghana's Renaissance. That's it. That's the Black Enterprise said the leader of the Ghanaian Renaissance. And I was like, Oh, that was really Wow. Okay.
Tony:Welcome to season six of Black Family Table Talk. We are your host, Toni and Tony. Listen in weekly as we share unique stories that inspire, build and give voice to strengthen black families.
Toni Henson:This season is sponsored by Frans body care. These are handmade products made from organic ingredients. I personally recommend you try free me deodorant, it really works. And it's free of aluminum, talc perfumes and other harmful pore clogging substances. You can shop these and other black businesses on our website at BlackFamilyTable Talk.com.
Tony:Welcome, Black Family Table Talk.
Toni Henson:Yes, Welcome! Now Nzinga, it's that how to pronounce your name?
NZingha:Yes
Tony:Beautiful.
Toni Henson:It is.
Tony:What does it mean?
NZingha:So it literally means flower by the river, but I'm named after the queen NZinga of Angola.
Toni Henson:So that means somebody who named you was woke real woke.
NZingha:Yes. So my birth name is Laetitia in Hawaiian it means joy. So I got NZinga, I think it was maybe 19 years old or 20 from some of the organizational work and community work I was doing at Georgia State University. So the elders came together and named me and my mom was there. My dad, my sister, my grandmother. So my family all came for me to get another name.
Toni Henson:Beautiful. Wow.
Tony:Yeah. So you added that to you
NZingha:I added that. Yes. Yes.
Toni Henson:I am so excited to have you today. I am like, when I read your story, I was like, Wow, she's so young, and she's doing so much. I think it would be safe to call you a an Africanist.
NZingha:It'd be you'd be really safe to call me that.
Toni Henson:That's an honorable title. Honorable attribute. What is it that you do and and tell us how you got started on this incredible journey in your life.
NZingha:Okay, so I've been visiting Ghana for 19 years now. So we'll say almost 20 years now. My first time I went is when I graduated undergrad. I loved it, I felt an instant connection. I met my godfather over there. And so I would continue to go and stay for months on in, stay on my godfather's house. There was this young man that was there that I kind of, he kind of grew up seeing me over the years and I kind of saw him and he's now my fiancee, so I've known him for 19 years since I've been going and he's an Ashanti man from Kumasi. So him and I really close friends, we were like this. So once we decided to come see him like this on audio, like my fingers intertwine really tightly, and then once we decided to take it to the next level. I mean, all of the what's your favorite color? What's your favorite sound? How you doing? All of that was out the way right? 19 years. We got to skip over all of that. So we jumped right into it. Like, let's finish building this home and let's get more land. So we started building our home or finished building our home, he had already started and Kumasi and then we started purchasing other plots. So the second COVID Let us see each other. Ghana open. So he was working abroad and I was living here. And then we met back in Ghana. When we met in Ghana, our friends were like, I need a break. I need a breather from this. We're coming. So we were like, oh, we should do a tour. So we organized the tour. And then we said the tour can end our house and you're welcome to stay with us. So him and I were just seeing our house for the first time as well or Mason on the ground was building. And we were just doing it through video chats. So he got on the ground maybe two weeks before me and everything together. Then I landed. And then a week after that. Our son and everybody else landed, so it was like a family affair really quickly. But during that time once I said Oh yeah, let's keep building. My friend said who's building in Ghana? Yeah, I want I want to start doing that. My god sister said, Wait a minute. What are you all doing? I'm all the way down. This person said that, this person spoke to this person. When we looked up. We have 15 families coming out of mostly Atlanta. Now we've expanded the area and over 20 plots of land in this neighborhood. So it happened very organically, started from a close knit group of friends, we've also known each other, actually those friends were on the trip with me to God 19 years ago. So they also knew him. And then it became this community that just blossomed. What I love most about the community is that you don't know your neighbor, your neighbor could be Ghanaian. It could be Ghanaian born in the UK, could be a Ghanaian that's been living in Australia, it could be Ghanaian that's never left Ghana, it could be a chiropractor in Atlanta. It could be a sales rep from Detroit, you have no idea. So it's this beautiful mixed bag of us and this one area, make it at work, building brick by brick, the bricks are handmade. You get to see the people building your home, you can visit there any time. Him and I are facilitating all of these. So he sits directly with the chief, he gets original paperwork. And then I mean people trust because they they trust us.
Toni Henson:Wow. Yeah. What's the area?
NZingha:Kumasi region. Yep. So at the intersection of all of this, I was going, okay, so this kind of intersects with some racial tension in America, at the height of all the crazy that was happening, you know, COVID came together with a lot of other stuff. And we're sitting at a light in the city of Stone Mountain, and my son and I could not go walk at the mountain that day, because two groups were armed, and they were clashing at the base of the mountain. And I thought to myself, This is ridiculous. This is ridiculous. Like, this is just, what is it going to take? This is crazy. And then I said, You know what, but I'm even crazier, because I can make a phone call- who's the mayor of this town? Like, I'd love to hear what's the plan here. And I did. I just sent a cold email. And she actually sent it to, I think he was a city- I don't know if he was the city manager or economic developer at that time. His name was Dr. Alan Peterson and he was like you want to come, I said, I wanna do sensitivity training. I want to work with the local police. I want to do some diversity training. I want to offer all of these things to develop this community, because I'm all about community development. And this is my background. And he was like, okay, all right. Hold on. I said, I'm leaving for Ghana nd he said, Wait, I do want to talk to you about Ghana. Can you call me when you get back? When I returned, once we started furthering the conversation, he's the economic development director for the city of Stockbridge. And he said, Let's revisit this conversation and I'm very interested in knowing what we can do to create this pipeline between the two cities. So lo and behold, in January of this year, we inked a sister city relationship between the Fiji cooperate district in Kumasi, and Stockbridge, Georgia. So that kind of punctuates this community, because now we have the mayor and a little bit of political backing, to really move our agenda forward, which is just to live peacefully and happily. There really isn't a level of depth to the agenda, except I'd like to walk outside with my son, without fear. I mean, that is the level of depth.
Toni Henson:Inka sister city, what does that mean?
NZingha:So the two mayors both agree that is mutually beneficial for both areas. And it can be anything you make it. Typically, it's a cultural agreement and economic agreement, but major cities have it established, and it kind of makes an easy pipeline for you to come in. So let's say you live in Stockbridge, and you're thinking, Hmm, I'd like to maybe source materials for Ghana. And then we say, okay. When you're applying for your visa, maybe you get a letter from the mayor in that area, saying you're invited, or when you get on the ground, maybe he has someone that can meet you, that can take you to local artisans, or come and see industries. It just makes it a little bit easier, it breaks down some barriers of entry because someone has gone ahead and said these people have the intention of working with you in good faith. You just get more smiles than our doors closed.
Tony:Awesome. This is absolutely great. Tony and I've visited Ghana at least three times. And we've taken another group of people in December. This is outstanding to hear that you're doing the same thing because these are the things that we intended to do is to make a connection and bring people back for the very same reasons that you laid out. You know, safety and peace of mind. We live in Atlanta, we love this area, we're proud call it a home. But we want to be able to be global citizens. Go back
NZingha:Yes most of us. Yeah, we wanna move freely as they move about the cabin freely?
Tony:Yeah, well, we're not stuck here, not stuck anywhere. And to take the good that America has to offer because being raised here in America and going to Ghana, it helps you the training and the tools and the skills you have. You gain it here in America, now you can take it abroad and utilize it for a country that is emerging that is growing, that has a lot of needs.
NZingha:And they asked for it, right? They opened the door and said return here. So it's also not like we're unwanted guests. Because you opened the door and said, You! You in the diaspora come here. We're saying, Okay, we hear you. We're coming in different if we were coming with our egos. We were born in America, we know what's best. That's not the energy. It's like, oh, you open the door? We can come in, we've been dying to get to y'all. We've been trying to meet our cousins. You know how we are with cousins. We love extended family. It doesn't take much to be in a loving relationship.
Toni Henson:Absolutely and the exchange is mutual. I mean, the love is mutual. And I tell you, I am just so excited that you decided to be a part of this podcast, but also that you are doing what you do. I cannot tell you how much of a trailblazer. I think you already know that you are and you've gotten some great coverage. I saw you somewhere and I said your name to my assistant, and she tracked you down, tell us what the response has been to that publicity.
NZingha:So funny is, I was sitting there in Ghana, and I was writing my resolutions for the new year and doing get my vision board ready and all the things right. And I was like, it's no good to do good work in this world, if you can't champion it yourself, and really let people know what you're doing. Which is why I'm sure you all set up this show. Because how would people know, all the good out there. You kind of get bogged down by the summer stories, but how do people know the other ones? So I wrote it down as a goal. I wanted media attention to these initiatives, because I thought it was something that was worthwhile to Trump it and that people would be really interested. Not even just to come join us, but maybe even say, Guess what, we're doing the same thing in the Volta Region. And I'm like, I had no idea. So just like you did, you find me and then you tell me your story, and then immediately expands our world. So I came back and I worked with my PR person, my virtual assistant, i.e., my student, I also have a pin African school called Black Star Educational Institute, has been in existence for over 15 years now. It was it was in southwest Atlanta. So five years, our doors are open right there. I had her since the second grade all the way through, she's finishing her MBA in New York now. She was like, okay, she gets the vision, I don't have to say many words, she can hear me on all kinds of levels. And I said, just share the story, just tell it to people and see who wants it. And since I came back, travel and work came back, Black Enterprise came back. I have a couple more that are coming out in the next couple of weeks. And then people reached out in social media. And they're either want to take a trip, they're very interested to purchase a plot of land and join the community or like today, they purchase land in an area. And they want a trusted partner that can really help facilitate the building. Where they want to contemporary home and they like the kind of homes we're building. And they would like a similar home, they want to hear pricing, talk to their people. Normally people do it in a group in Ghana. They're building eight homes in this one area. So she just went to check that out two days ago, today we unpacked with her. So it just runs the gamut. It's a full scale, full services that we're offering. So that's been the response. It has been very positive. It's been very radical. It's been people from all over the world. So someone just purchased in there in Jamaica. So people from everywhere throughout the diaspora. They're coming and they'll find the story and they will say, wait a minute, what are you all doing? But E and Z's project launch is kind of focused on specifically developing in Ghana and not just this complex, but industry development like really tangibly contributing to Ghana's Renaissance. That's it. That's the Black Enterprise said the leader of the Ghanaian Renaissance, and I was like, Oh, that was really wow, okay. I wasn't quite putting myself at that title.
Tony:You weren't ready for that.
NZingha:I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready. I wasn't even quite as some people said you gotta step into it. I remember I went to Egypt with Baba Aisa Hillier, years ago and I was young, I was finishing my Master's at Georgia State. We went to the tipologia de las pirámides and he made this big speech. He was like, I would like to know anybody who's a priest, I want them to pray, this the first topologia in the world today, based on this dating, and I really want them to come here and do blah, blah, blah. So everybody's like, who's it going to be? I'm the youngest on the trip feeling really awkward. And right before it's time to make the prayer the next day he goes, NZinga, you're saying. I was like, no, it couldn't possibly be me. It was oh, no, it was a libation. It used to be on YouTube. When I came back, my friends clown me so hard. When I was pouring libation, I said, Can we have 1/10 of your brilliance? So there were like, why 1/10th though? Why do we only want 1/10th? I was like, I don't know, if we came up in the moment, but I'm used to like somebody setting the bar really high. And I'm having to kind of jump to reach it. This one, the leader of the Ghanaian Renaissance, that's a really loaded bar. What I will say is, I am participating in the forefront. I am one of the runners at the forefront of it. Yes, I'm owning that 100% alongside people like YouTube, you know, and a zillion others who've decided to heed the call and say, Oh, we've been to Ghana, we'd like to, Oh, you want us You want us? That's all you had to say. We want to be where we're wanted as well. It's like going to the cookout, you just get that weird feeling like nobody wants you there. You leave really quickly. But it was all good. You doing the electric slide? You know, everybody's with it.
Tony:NZinga, you building over there? When we were there, we noticed the building types architecture they use. Are you using the architect? What modernization are you adding to the buildings? Most of the stuff there we've seen was cinder block building. Which can be expensive. Are you doing any stick bills there? I mean, it's not like it's hurricanes, anything or knock anything down. So what new material or techniques are you incorporating in your builds.
NZingha:Great question. So in Accra they're running the whole gamut. Accra is like, whatever you want, however you want to build it, get it up and sell it. Kumasi is very traditional. So it's as if there's a hurricane coming, they build forever, they don't want that building to ever. Unless you knock it. They look at our buildings here, they're like you made that out of wood? You made a building out of wood? I mean, what will your generation say? How will they live in it? We don't think like that here. We're not thinking three generations later, what kind of repairs will they have to make. We're thinking about, I tell them, they may want to remodel anyway. But that's not the mentality there. So we still use the bricks, we use the blocks, I should say. And that's what your structure is made of. However, we are doing a modern build. So a lot of the homes in Accra have this really modern look, really, really nice sleek look to it. And we're building the same ones in Kumasi now. So it still has the bricks underneath it. And that's because it really helps with things like erosion, it helps with mold, it helps in a lot of other ways that you don't consider in that environment that you don't even think about. But because their houses are built with that as a foundation, they're really strong, and they keep a lot of things out that we don't have to consider. So once they explained the environment, and they don't have a hurricane and knock it over, but they have rainy season, they have dry season. They have this, they have that. It really, really holds stands the test of time, and a lot of places may not have a road. So if it's raining, and it's a dusty road, they just really want their houses to be stable. They don't want any issues at the amount of money you have to invest to build a home. For them they're building it for life. So we use local architects, we use local masons, we use modern designs that were typically bring in from over here. And then we outfit it for the area. Looking at what will work best. We would like to partner with more people for solar power. That's what we would like to move into because the electricity is still doing what it does. And I'm just thinking like a solar powered would be a great boom over here and there are some solar companies out of Accra, but the pricing is very, very high. It is not affordable. Even for us. It's just not an affordable venture. It's cheaper for us to just do electricity with a backup generator, but that's not sustainable. We also want to be environmentally friendly, be environmentally friendly. So we are considering that. We have a lot of people who want to do a container home, we have not found that to be cost effective because of the amount of customization. Most of our people want to do to their home. So they want a container home, just like the picture they see on the internet. But that container home is highly customized. That was not two containers stacked on top of each other with a paint job. They cut this out, arrange this this way did this, they added this outside, and at the end of it, the cost is almost comparable. But we have had some people come there. And so we connect them with a company in Accra. And they'll reach out and they will come and do an estimate. And inevitably, they come back and they say it's not the same. He and my other half on the Ganas side, he's adamantly against them. He doesn't see how they're sustainable over time, again, they're not thinking of trendy and contemporary, they're thinking of lasting for generations. I'm going to bet, let me not even bet, I don't want you to bet, I rather research it. I'm not sure. I know, based on the amount of generations that some of those family homes have been erected, that they've been doing it a long time. They can use the dirt and water and you know, make a brick. So it's very easy to use from your environment.
Tony:So what's the average cost of a home that you guys are building over there?
NZingha:So about 65,000 for the least expensive one. And that one was three bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms.
Toni Henson:Wow. Wait, stop. Hold up. US dollars?
NZingha:US, Yes.
Toni Henson:With three bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms. Wow, that's a frickin mansion where I live from.
NZingha:So the plot sizes are 90 by 80. So that's 7200 square feet. We built that one on half the plot. We were going to build a second home exactly not replica, but just duplicate that home on the other side of the plot, and then rent out one of them. And then we decided, we kind of really enjoyed here. I've had more guests visit in our home in Ghana than I've had over 10 years in Atlanta. And I'm not overexaggerating. I speak more people in Atlanta than I see at the cascade Starbucks, which is very weird. And then they'll come to dinner and they'll bring their friends or whoever they're on the trip with. I'm like, if you're in Kumasi, let me know. Come to dinner, and they will come and then the people want to view the homes and see the area.
Toni Henson:I mean that's such the vibe in Ghana.
NZingha:But not in Atlanta, interestingly. All my connections in Atlanta, the vibe is not I'm-coming-by-bringing-four-friends. That's not quite the Atlanta vibe. You might make it for brunch but they're not coming with three friends to your house for dinner randomly. But in Ghana, it could be very much like "I'm in your town you free?" Yeah I'm free, you comming for dinner tomorrow, what do you all want to eat? And then my sister in law will go shopping for the food and then we'll have whatever. Typically fish and a stew and a salad and a rice and then lettuce is great to eat. We have a Triple Filter in our water system. Then everybody's chilling. We had like a little bit of a parade at the house. We blasted our music, it was under the stars. And we just jammed. It was about 15 of us.
Toni Henson:Now you have a son, four years old black male.
NZingha:He's five now.
Toni Henson:How are the schools?
NZingha:Okay, so from Blackstar, we enrolled one of our students the same one my beautiful PR agent. We enrolled her when she was in the, I think she was in the seventh grade in Tamale in North Ghana, and a private school. And she took the ITBS test here. Her score was two points or maybe it was the ACT. And they aligned it where she would be able to get into Spelman from the seventh to eighth grade. That's how high she scored. She went to a school in Northern Ghana, she could not keep up. She was drowning in tears. We loved her there and came back to pick her up. She couldn't keep up in math. She couldn't keep up in French. She couldn't keep up in language arts, the school system there is so much more advanced than our school system.
Toni Henson:In the United States, it's more advanced because I want everybody to understand that it is not a underdeveloped country.
NZingha:Now by far. You can look at the roads and see flashing electricity and think one way, but you would be sadly mistaken. On an education level, they are very strong. And the people are brilliant. People are brilliant.
Toni Henson:from a cultural standpoint, education is highly value. But so the flip side of that is, I show up with my American university degree, and I'm valued. You know, they don't see a black woman who they assume is angry, they see someone who can contribute to the conversation. That is the most refreshing thing.
NZingha:To that point, I think the most beautiful part of being an existing in Ghana, and I've been there more than I've been here, or the last year, I go every six weeks, and I stay for a while. And the most refreshing part about being there is you don't have to think about yourself. You can just be. And I find it to be a more humane way to live, for me. It's way more connected to Earth and humanity. In a way that's not trivial. You don't have to create an organization to be humane, you can just go outside your door, wave at your neighbor- you feel very connected. People love in a very deep way. And it's not a Utopia. I mean, it hasn't stuff like any other civilization has. But on a human to human level, even the proper way people apologize to you the way people make eye contact is endearing. It's a love on a level where you're like, Ah, I don't have to think about being me. Here, there's so many levels to be in you. You're a black woman, you're educated. You got attitude, you have this, you complain about that. It's just not. It's not that deep.
Tony:I honestly believe that there is a movement to bring Africans in the diaspora back home on some level, just to touch base, visit, stay, live, why have you get educated. What what do you see happening over the next 5-10 years with what you're doing?
NZingha:I think it will be something of the likes that we haven't felt in a long time. Because when we can welcome, when you all come there with a group, and you can stay in our homes, in our little area, and laugh and tell jokes that you would tell back here and feel at home in another place halfway across the world. There's a feeling we can't describe your words. And it's happening. You can be home here and be home there. And I don't think African Americans have ever had a second home. Most people always have a home. They build in the US, even if they haven't been there for generations. They have a home. My dad on my dad's side, he's from Italy. We just kind of take the whole west coast. I guess we're from somewhere over there. And I'm like, let's go, where we're wanted. We know at some point, we passed this area. So let's just circle the globe, where it stops, put a finger down and go land anchor. I see people moving to Kenya. I see people building all around West Africa. And I see a lot of black women at the forefront of this. I really do. On social media, black women are not afraid to travel to West Africa by themselves. And that is a beautiful thing. With all of the swindling and you could get robbed and all of those things. Yeah, you can get robbed walking down in Atlanta, too. I mean, be smart, you're traveling. Yeah, you can get robbed agreed. Don't put your wallet hanging out. In five years, I think we're going to see the playing field leveled when we're no longer holding up the narrative that Africa is this place that is untouchable. Jungle. Let's just talk about the animals there. Forget the humanity there. Forget humanity came from there. And we can say I'm going home. And then our children could say they're going home. So when things get really crazy here, I think we're going to stand at it differently. I don't think we're going to posture the same way. I really don't. I feel like our posturing now is still a little bit cautious. Like don't hurt us and keep disrespecting us. But I think I think that conversation is gonna start looking very different. Like don't don't hurt us and do not disrespect us anymore. Like I think it's gonna change the way we even act here. That's what I predict.
Toni Henson:I agree with you so much in seeing that on so many levels, and I think it's going to move even faster because I don't see things getting better. And I think that what you're doing, what we're doing is building bridges and Making the Connection so people can see it as a familiar option. Having visited, having gone there, people really do look around because you can't help but do that - look around and say, Hmm, could I see myself living here, can I see myself owning a condo here or a small house or a large house, a vacation home that's right on the shore. The beaches are there. Food is great. The American dollar is strong. So there's so many reasons why people need to come, we have sparked an interest that we never thought we could. We took 34 people last year. We're taking 30 people this coming December. In two weeks, we already sold out the first package, which is the top tier package. So people are truly interested. Let's keep the conversation going. NZinga, we will partner with you to do whatever we can to bring people to your community. And I've got some great connections in jetty, which is not too far from where you are. There is developing going on there. And they're looking to build and develop, my husband is in development, and my daughter is an architect. She's coming back with us again in December. So we want to see you be huge. We want to follow your lead and add to infrastructure that you're building, because it is scary, but we got to take the mystique out of it.
NZingha:We have to create baselines that people can trust to work from. So we have to say everybody is not trying to take your money. Some people truly have the best interest of the whole at heart. And we just raised our hand and said we do, if you don't believe us check our resume.
Tony:Yeah, well, I'm looking forward to a partnership with you and your fiance. We got to figure out a way how to make that partnership happen. Last time we were there, we went to Kumasi - long bus ride. And the main reason to go there was to shop, that kind of took its toll. So we didn't put it in a group packets this time. But we got to figure out a way and rather than just go there to shop, we have some way to go. We got to fly to Kumasi. Come see you guys, come see what you guys are doing. To meet the whole community there. I'm loving the partnership you have with Stockbridge.
NZingha:I wanted to add in there to give examples of on that side. The mayor, we were on a call the other day. And he's technically the DCE, I say mayor because that's our comfortable position here. And he said they're doing a homecoming for all the people in the area that have been abroad later this year. And he was like and I want you all to be a part of this homecoming festivities as one of our groups from abroad that came home. So when people say like, are they welcoming to you all, I mean to be a part of a homecoming ceremony in Kumasi is a beautiful thing. To be invited as an invited guest a special. We want to make sure you all are here, we call you to help us get more streetlights. Again, a trusted partner on the ground. I say we're gonna come back and do this, we do it. Some people on our tour, they wanted to get to schools, they did. They brought book bags full of things to donate. So the more you keep your word both sides, you kind of develop trust. When people say do you have issues, you can't have issues like any other relationship, you just keep building it. I also want to champion my town though. Kumasi has so much to offer on a tour. So we do from Cape Coast, it's a shorter drive and people don't lose it. We acquired to Kumasi, Norway, you know that was that was a difficult one for people to kind of endure. But we found Cape Coast because then we go look at the last slave river. I mean the last slave bath where they took it and then we keep going and that one people have been able to do. Why I advocate for Kumasi on it is because you have the Ashanti king, so if you look at this empire, you just go through it. You have to see why people love saying we're from Kings and Queens.
NZinga:I actually I do not push that agenda and because we're just are we don't have to be that to be, we just are. You can be from a janitor you still great. But there is this institution still in existence and I feel like it's beautiful to see it. The market is beautiful there. I mean 100% I sent everybody to the market to Kumasi, but to go see the Ashanti King where he is, they're rehabilitating it now, is a work of art in and of itself. Then the Adinkra, you have the Qin Tae village, and then you have where the Adinkra- it's like all of that there. I call it the cultural center of Ghana. The heart.
Toni Henson:Definitely rich. We were there for a few hours. Definitely rich. It's a place to revisit. Everybody says that.
NZingha:Yeah, so we hope and you can definitely bring your buddy by for dinner of course.
Toni Henson:That would be totally be awesome.
Tony:I am looking forward to it.
Toni Henson:If somebody says, I want to invest in Ghana and land and ownership. Who do they contact? How do they get in touch with you?
NZingha:They contact me immediately. They email me, it's us but I'm going to say me because I'm going to respond to you personally.(ez.starculture@gmail.com) If they forget that, they can always go to our website, which is Enjoilife.co and enjoy spelled with an i so E N J O I L I F E . C O, and there's a Contact Us form on the website, they can email. And once they email, I will automatically send them all the details. I will also say if you would like a more personalized touch, we can have a video call or you can speak to me on WhatsApp. And I keep all the lines of communication open so people know were trusted partner and that they have access. Thank you.
Tony:You have this telephone number?
Toni Henson:I do. I have a contact information and our subscribers will definitely get your contact information also to add to their list of people they want to reach out to.
Tony:I do have another question. When we were in Ghana, we saw East Legon, Accra - all of that is building up and getting costly. How would you compare the areas from Kumasi, I noticed a totally different region and Kumasi has his own flavor and vibe.
NZingha:Completely different.
Tony:How would you contrast the two or similarities between the two?
NZingha:Accra, I would probably say Buckhead like if you had to put it in your brain. You would call Kumasi Decatur in between we gentrified Decatur and the deck. It'ss where every gentrification is there. That's how I will give you the two. So Kumasi has something exciting happening, which they're getting an international airport this year will be finished, it was only delayed because of COVID which is a game changer. So Accra is capital, and it has the International Airport, but now we will be like the second capital with our own International Airport. Which is going to change the visibility and how many people are coming there and which also means in order to get that in the funding for means that it matters to some people. The industries are coming. So Kumasi is the next stage of development. So I'm like get it now because Accra is a million dollars. You kind of get in and sit on your house for a minute and then in five years, you're like Wow okay! That's kind of where we are. It's building. Accra is moving at a much quicker pace. It has higher levels of visibility, it has your embassies, so you have a lot of international people moving about. I walk down the street, I can see people from all over the world, their children riding bikes, I go to Lebanese restaurant there, they have hookah, they have private spots. I've paid more for a meal in Accra than I have paid for several meals in Atlanta. Accra can get very expensive very quickly. It doesn't have to be but it is. Especially if you're a foreigner and you don't want to just eat street food because it's street food. But typically we want to sit down enjoy ourselves, unpack the day, eat and that is costly.
Toni Henson:Got to know where to go.
NZingha:Actually, if you've been one time, you don't need the glitz and the glam you kind of go to your spots.. But Accra is beautiful, because it's this African metropolis. It's this city and it's coming about and you can see it.
Toni Henson:There are a lot of building and they're building fast.
NZingha:Accra is a beautiful place. It's it's a 25 minute plane ride from Kumasi. So for me it's not a big deal. We like to road trip, but when it's just him and I. If you have people with you then we don't. So that's how I would. If somebody was from Atlanta, that's the best way I could use those cities in Atlanta to really explain or I should say those areas, the Accra to Kumasi bit but Kumasi's energy is completely different. And I tell people, watch you're gonna feel an energy shift. And when we get there, it's like traffic. It's the vibe is different. The swag is different. It's just be Decatur to Buckhead.
Toni Henson:Thank you so much for being a part of Black Family Table Talk. I am so excited about the future that is in Kumasi as well as future that you are opening up doors for people to go through. You are truly a Harriet Tubman Moses, whatever you call it, just leading people to peace, to peace of mind, to freedom of mind, thought alternative, to look different, to see the world different. Congratulations to you!
NZingha:Thank you and I humbly receive all the things you wish upon me. Thank you very much. I really appreciate you all reaching out. The questions were great. Gave me some food for thought too. Can't wait for a partnership continuing after this. And beautiful.
Tony:Well, this is Black Family Table Talk.
Toni Henson:That's what's up.
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