Mbabane – Ghanaian politician and Pan-African advocate Ras Mubarak held a productive meeting on Friday, March 13, 2026, with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini, H.E. Russell Mmiso Dlamini, to discuss the Visa-Free Africa campaign and opportunities to boost intra-African trade and tourism.
During the discussions, Prime Minister Dlamini expressed support for the initiative and reiterated Eswatini’s commitment to the Pan-African agenda. He also noted the country’s strong sugar production and encouraged African nations to prioritise buying from one another as a way to create more jobs for young people.
“I presented him with a replica of Ghana’s Independence Arch as a symbol of friendship and shared history,” Ras Mubarak said, adding that the prime minister shared a story about his father’s encounter with Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah.
Joining the meeting was H.E. Kobla Quashie, Ghana’s Honorary Consul in the Kingdom of Eswatini.
Ras Mubarak also shared his excitement about attending the 2026 Buganu Festival this weekend, a traditional ceremony that marks the start of the marula harvest. “Siswati women brew the first buganu beer from the season’s ripe fruit, present it to the King and Queen Mother at the royal residence, and only after the monarch tastes it can everyone else partake,” he said. He added that the festival gives thanks to ancestors, prays for fertility and health, and reinforces the King’s role as provider and guardian of the people.
He thanked the Hon. Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, for assisting him in bringing memorable gifts from Ghana.
“A visa-free and borderless Africa is possible in our lifetime. Let’s keep pushing,” Ras Mubarak concluded.
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