Written by: Sebastian Alesane – (Business Incubation Expert / Development Practitioner with ActionAid Ghana)
A new chapter in Upper East tourism, driven by heritage, music, entrepreneurship and a commitment to local economic opportunities.
The Upper East Region has another reason to celebrate its growing tourism and hospitality potential following the recognition of Gibako Guest House – Bolgatanga as “Tourism Newcomer of the Year 2026 – Upper East Region” at the 2026 Upper East Regional Awards of the Ghana Tourism Authority.
The recognition marks an important milestone for a new hospitality enterprise that seeks to offer more than accommodation. It also provides an opportunity to celebrate the remarkable journey of Rebecca Atanga, whose return to the Upper East Region is bringing together decades of international experience in music, culture and enterprise with a renewed commitment to her roots.
The Ghana Tourism Authority’s citation describes Gibako as a remarkable new entry into the hospitality space, highlighting its ambience, comfortable rooms, relaxing bar and location in Bolgatanga, just off the Bolgatanga–Navrongo trunk road. The citation further acknowledges the enterprise’s potential to contribute to healthy competition, service excellence and enhanced visitor choice and experience.
From International Stages Back Home to the Upper East
For Rebecca Atanga, the story behind Gibako is deeply personal.
Rebecca is a pioneering Ghanaian musician, dancer, music educator, instrument maker and cultural ambassador whose career has connected Northern Ghanaian musical traditions with audiences beyond Ghana. She began playing the kologo in the 1990s, at a time when women were rarely seen taking centre stage with the indigenous instrument. Her journey consequently represents not only musical achievement but also a contribution to challenging gender expectations and demonstrating the wider cultural value of Northern Ghanaian traditions.
After moving to the Netherlands in 1992, Rebecca spent more than three decades building an international career while maintaining a strong connection to Ghana. Her performances and cultural work have taken her across Europe, including Germany, Italy, and France. She has also performed at notable Dutch venues such as Paradiso and the Melkweg.
One notable chapter of her international journey was her involvement in a special musical presentation associated with Kofi Annan. Historical documentation referenced in her profile records that, following an invitation from the Roosevelt Foundation, Rebecca composed and presented a special song for Kofi Annan during the presentation of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award by Queen Beatrix in Middelburg in 2004.
These experiences give particular meaning to her decision to invest in the Upper East Region.
Gibako: Bringing the World Back Home
The establishment of Gibako Guest House and Bar in Yikene, Bolgatanga, represents a transition from international experience to local enterprise. “Gibako” means the three strings of the mother guitar, which she played as the first female of the Upper East Region to do so.
It is conceived as a space where hospitality, tourism, music, culture, and entrepreneurship converge—providing visitors with an opportunity to experience the warmth of Upper East Ghana while engaging with the region’s rich artistic and cultural identity.
This vision aligns strongly with the significance of the Ghana Tourism Authority’s newcomer recognition.
Gibako is not simply entering the hospitality market; it is contributing to the development of a tourism ecosystem in which accommodation, entertainment, cultural expression, and local enterprise can reinforce one another.
Its emergence also creates an opportunity for the Upper East Region to tell its own stories through the people, music, traditions, food, hospitality, and creative talents that define the region.
A Platform for Northern Ghanaian Music and Culture
Music sits at the heart of Rebecca Atanga’s return.
The opening of Gibako brought together notable musical talents from Northern Ghana, including Atongo Zimba, Guy One, Ayuune Sully, Abagna Gongo, Mavis Atiah, Raz Worms, Azure Gifty and Rebecca Atanga herself. Their participation reflects the potential of Gibako to serve as a platform for celebrating Northern Ghanaian creativity and creating opportunities for artists to connect with audiences across generations and cultures.
This is particularly significant for young people across the Upper East and Northern Ghana.
Indigenous music and cultural traditions can become more than memories of the past. They can become platforms for creative careers, tourism experiences, cultural education, entertainment, and enterprise.
Rebecca’s own journey demonstrates this possibility: an indigenous instrument such as the kologo can travel from local communities to international stages, and international experience can subsequently be brought home to create new opportunities.
Tourism as a Driver of Local Enterprise
The recognition of Gibako as Tourism Newcomer of the Year comes at a time when the Upper East Region continues to have significant potential for tourism development.
The region possesses distinctive cultural heritage, festivals, architecture, traditional craftsmanship, music, food, landscapes, and historical sites. Hospitality businesses such as Gibako can contribute to turning these assets into experiences that attract visitors while creating economic opportunities for local people.
For Rebecca, this vision extends beyond the physical guest house.
Gibako (three-strings in the local guitar) is described as a legacy project, founded on the belief that cultural heritage can become a living source of jobs, tourism, entrepreneurship and local economic opportunity rather than remaining confined to museums or historical narratives.
That philosophy is particularly relevant to the aspirations of young people in the region.
A vibrant tourism and hospitality industry requires accommodation providers, tour guides, musicians, caterers, event managers, artisans, designers, transport operators, photographers, farmers, food processors, digital creators and other service providers. The growth of a single enterprise can therefore create linkages across multiple parts of the local economy.
A Daughter Returning with a Vision
There is also a powerful human story behind the enterprise.
Rebecca left Ghana and built an international career while carrying the cultural identity of Northern Ghana with her. Her return is now creating an opportunity to invest some of that experience, knowledge, and exposure back into the community from which her journey began.
In that sense, Gibako represents a bridge between Northern Ghana and the world; between cultural heritage and contemporary enterprise; between international experience and local opportunity; and between the achievements of the past and the possibilities of the future.
Her story is therefore bigger than the opening of a guest house.
It is a story about coming home with a vision.
A Recognition of Enterprise—and a Celebration of Possibility
The 2026 Ghana Tourism Authority recognition provides an important acknowledgment of Gibako’s entry into Upper East’s hospitality landscape.
But beyond the award itself, the story is about what the enterprise represents: the possibility of using tourism, hospitality, music, culture, and business enterprise as interconnected pathways for regional development.
For young artists, Rebecca Atanga’s journey demonstrates that indigenous cultural expressions can reach international audiences.
For entrepreneurs, her return demonstrates how international exposure can be translated into local investment.
For the tourism sector, Gibako demonstrates how hospitality can be combined with cultural identity to create distinctive visitor experiences.
And for the people of the Upper East Region, Rebecca’s journey offers a powerful reminder that those who travel far can still return home and contribute to building something meaningful.
The Beginning of a New Chapter
As Gibako Guest House and Bar takes its place within the Upper East tourism and hospitality landscape, the Tourism Newcomer of the Year 2026 recognition can be viewed as both an achievement and the beginning of a larger journey.
The ambition is not merely to provide rooms, food, drinks and entertainment. It is to create a space where people meet, cultures are experienced, artists are celebrated, visitors feel welcome, and enterprise creates opportunity.
For Rebecca Atanga, it is a continuation of a journey that began decades ago with the kologo and took her across international stages.
Now, that journey is coming full circle.
She travelled with Northern Ghana’s culture to the world—and has returned with a vision to bring the world closer to Northern Ghana.
Gibako Guest House and Bar stands as part of that vision: a celebration of heritage, hospitality, tourism, entrepreneurship, music, and the enduring power of home.
Congratulations to Gibako Guest House and Bar on being recognized as Tourism Newcomer of the Year 2026 – Upper East Region.
And congratulations to Rebecca Atanga—a pioneering daughter of Northern Ghana, whose journey continues to create new possibilities for culture, tourism, enterprise, and the next generation.
Written by: Sebastian Alesane
(Business Incubation Expert / Development Practitioner with ActionAid Ghana)
