Ghana is historically known for its ports where millions of Africans passed en route to slave plantations in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.

During recent years, Ghana’s government has been working to encourage African Americans to consider the country as their homeland and a place to visit, invest, live and retire. The country’s officials also launched a campaign to persuade Ghanaians to treat visiting African Americans as if they are long-lost relatives.

Ghana , however, is not the only country in Africa attempting to attract African American investors. Most of the chocolate eaten in North America comes from cocoa plants grown in West Africa; and the diamond industry is thriving in South Africa.

And as interest in doing business in Africa is starting to grow – especially with the World Cup heading there in 2010 and possible talk of a future Olympic Games down the road – Blacks in America and abroad are slowly coming around to realizing the potential African Americans and Africans have by establishing commerce together.

Gregory Marchand has made it a personal goal to encourage more Black Americans to come to Africa, especially since many have not done particularly well in the United States. Not too long ago, the Houston native launched Gizmos Limited, which provides electronic products and services and business solutions to the Zambian business community.

“We need to go wherever there is an investment opportunity and take bigger risks than those that already have all the assets,” he said.

Marchand is a true believer that African Americans should consider Africa as a viable place to engage in business ventures.

“There’s a huge potential in these countries,” he said. “Seven out of the 20 fastest growing economies are in Africa.

“I’m saying that we (African Americans) have the skill set to develop a continent. In addition there are much larger returns on investments in Africa than there are here,” Marchand said.

To better understand the potential of the African market – specifically the South African market – Black Enterprise Magazine recently spent several weeks in that country.

In addition to speaking to African Americans and South Africans in business and government, the magazine was also represented at the Made in USouth Africa Expo, a Johannesburg-based exhibition of goods and services attracting over 230 exhibitors. Representatives from the publication found Black corporate executives from AT&T, Duracell and Chrysler at the made in USouth Africa Expo.

Reporters from the magazine also found a host of investment incentives as well, including low electricity costs, port facilities, relatively low commercial real estate prices and a sophisticated industrial infrastructure.

However, experts suggest before entering the African market to do business, one should make it a point to do homework first, for many of the continent’s country’s are still decades fresh from political corruption – a component that holds many Black American investors from doing business there.

But Marchand noted that Asian, Indian and European investors are tapping into the continent’s economic potential.

While studying business administration at Morehouse College, Marchand had the opportunity to visit Brazil and South Africa to see how American companies conduct business overseas.

While working as a management consultant for Deloitte Consulting LLC, Marchand took a leave of absence and visited five countries in Africa. The Texas native became drawn to the business climate in Zambia and decided to set up shop in that country with an investment of $100,000.

Marchand’s company is a division of Gizmos LLC, a U.S.-based exporter of electronics and computers. With the exception of himself, Marchand’s company employs local Zambians.

“The start up is the most challenging part of doing business in a different country, but the actual maintenance and growth of your businesses is much easier in a place like Zambia or Africa in general,” he said. “The ability to sustain and grow a business is much better in those economies.”

However, there are some key things that an entrepreneur should do in order to be successful in Africa.

“You have to deal with a total different structure about how you’re going to get things done,” Marchand said. “You really have to have local partnerships – local partnerships are very important. It’s also very important to learn about the culture where you’re going to start the business. Don’t assume that every country in Africa is the same.”

For those who are interested in tapping into Africa, Marchand strongly suggests you do your homework first.

He said it’s important to conduct Web-based research, read industry periodicals, attend conferences that focus on investing in Africa and form relationships with people who are from the country that one might be interested in.

Marchand said it’s important to visit the country that one is interested in and taking the time to network with local people. He also suggests that emerging entrepreneurs tap into American embassies or investment centers to find information on business opportunities while visiting the continent.

Marchand believes many native Africans would like African Americans to come back to the continent.

“I think that the general population wants a lot of African Americans to come back to Africa,” he said. “It’s just that there’s been a big rift between the two cultures. Individuals need to take leadership in mending that.”

Sierra Leone native Issa Mansaray agrees that more African Americans should be willing to invest in the continent.

Mansaray, who recently received his master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York, eventually plans to return to his country.

For those Black Americans who want to tap into a unique investment opportunity, Mansaray suggests they consider investing in African-owned newspapers or journalism training institutions.

He said there is a lack of locally owned media institutions in Africa, as many of the publications are operated by the British. He noted that a lot of major U.S. media corporations have closed their bureaus in Africa.

For example, Mansaray says the For Di People newspaper based in Sierra Leone needs an investor.

“If African Americans want to invest, they need to look at the media in Africa,” he insisted.

Mansaray also suggested African Americans should consider investing in cash crops such as coffee, ginger, bananas and mangos and also within the fisheries and manufacturing industries in Sierra Leone.

“This country is just emerging from war so there are so many things that people can invest in to help,” he said. “You go to the country and just look at the people and (see) what they are really in need of.”

While Africa has been known as a place where other countries extract oil, platinum, gold, zinc and copper there are a bevy of other investment opportunities.

The Washington, D.C-based National Black Chamber of Commerce is working to strengthen economic ties to Africa.

The organization has affiliations with the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

This year, the NBCC will embark on two separate trade missions to Nairobi, Kenya and West Africa.

“Being that we (African Americans) are from the strongest economy in the world and the continent of Africa represents the weakest economy, we need to apply our skills towards the promotion of trade and investment and economic viability for both sides,” said NBCC President Harry C. Alford.

“As Japanese Americans, Korean Americans and Chinese Americans have a strong relationship with China, Japan and Korean - we too, should have that with Africa,” he said. “We need to be focusing on that and I think we should start trying to understand each other. The key thing is dialogue and interaction will go a long way in tightening the ties between Africans and African Americans and also promote economic vitality. ”

Alford noted there are issues that African businesses are facing that should be brought to the forefront.

For example, he said many African businesses are coping with an inadequate banking system.

“There is no hard currency, as they say,” Alford said. “It is soft currency and it doesn’t recycle or generate interest and growth in the country. If we can start having some viable banking resources, I think that will go a long way in Africa.”

William McKenzie, a 28-year-old native of Michigan who is currently studying at the London Business School in the United Kingdom, is interested in pursing business opportunities in Africa.

McKenzie plans to spend his summer interning at a company in Lagos, Nigeria.

“I think that there are a lot of opportunities that are starting to develop and emerge like in the Southern African region,” McKenzie said, noting that opportunities exist in areas such as commodities, manufacturing and telecommunications technology.

“Now that most of the countries are becoming much more stable and the governments that are in power are a lot less corrupt and are becoming much more democratic, the managing of the resources is going a lot better,” McKenzie said.

“Anyone that has the skills that we take for granted, such as having a degree, you can do quite well in a variety of businesses throughout the continent.”