Two days after the enthronement, or Trounwiessel, of Grand Duke Guillaume as Luxembourg’s new head of state, I left Findel Airport on a journey I could not have fully imagined.
I had decided in 2025 to finally act on a long-held goal: my first trip to Africa. I also knew I wanted to be in Luxembourg for the new Grand Duke’s accession, a once-in-a-generation occasion. Coming from New York, it made sense to combine the two. Continuing on to Africa from Europe was a far shorter flight than setting out from the United States.
Soon after I landed, I found myself outside a crisp white building bearing the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy and flying two familiar flags, Luxembourg’s and that of the EU. Inside, I was welcomed with “Akwaaba,” meaning “welcome” in one of Ghana’s main languages, by Edmond Boateng, Luxembourg’s Honorary Consul in Ghana.
I had no idea that less than a year later I would return to see him crowned a traditional chieftain. It was an extraordinary full circle moment.
Connecting Through Luxembourg
When planning my first trip to Africa, I knew I wanted to visit Ghana in particular because my alma mater, Loyola University Chicago, had an exchange program in the country. Many of my classmates who attended the program in Accra came back with some vivid and memorable stories that I always remembered.
But my own connection to Ghana passes through Luxembourg and its diplomatic network.
Luxembourg keeps diplomatic representation in many countries, but it cannot maintain a full embassy with its own staff everywhere. In some places it turns to trusted private citizens to represent it locally on an honorary basis.
In July 2025, Luxembourg held a conference for its honorary consuls around the world. As a result of my work with LuxCitizenship, I am personally in touch with several of Luxembourg’s honorary consuls in the US. Through that network, I was first introduced to Hon. Edmond Boateng, H.C. in New York.
Arrival in Accra
Several months later, having just arrived from Luxembourg, I was received at his office, the Honorary Consulate of Luxembourg in Accra, Ghana’s capital. After my initial meeting and crash course on the country, I set out to explore. What I found was that Accra is dynamic, fast-developing, and unmistakably a place in motion.
One experience from this trip that I will never forget was Edmond’s invitation to attend a local funeral. Although death can be a delicate and somber moment, funerals are also a demonstration of a culture’s long-held traditions. Experiencing this moment left a lasting impression on me and showed me a side of Ghana I would never have experienced on my own.
I believe this perfectly embodies what an honorary consul is supposed to do and be: a connector between two countries, cultures and peoples. I left feeling that Luxembourg has an impeccable representative of those ideals in the Republic of Ghana.
Luxembourg’s Representative in Ghana
Edmond Boateng is the first person to hold the post of Honorary Consul of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Ghana. From his office in Accra, he works to strengthen relations between the two countries across trade, investment, finance, innovation, and institutional cooperation.
Up until now, the everyday exchange between the countries has been modest. The National Registry of Physical Persons (RNPP) does not list Ghana on its report of Luxembourgish nationals living abroad, meaning fewer than 10 people are registered as living in the country.
But the ties are deepening in the other direction. In mid-2026, 127 Ghanaian nationals were registered as living in the Grand Duchy, up from 23 in 2017, more than a fivefold rise in under a decade. Ghana, for its part, has its own honorary consul resident in Luxembourg, Mme. Carine Oberweis Boakye-Adjei.
Since assuming the position of honorary consul in February 2024, Edmond has brought his deep professional background as a diplomat, public-administration expert, and entrepreneur to further connect his country with the Grand Duchy.
His recent work has not gone unnoticed in Ghana. In early 2026, his peers elected him Secretary of Ghana’s Honorary Consular Corps.
Announcing the Amanonehene
In fact, it was not only Edmond’s peers in the diplomatic community who had taken notice.
Ghana is home to many ethnic communities with their own longstanding systems of traditional leadership, including several historic kingdoms. Edmond belongs to the Akyem people and is from the Akyem Abuakwa kingdom, known as Okyeman, located in Ghana’s Eastern Region. Okyeman is presided over by a traditional king, His Royal Majesty Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin II, the Okyenhene. Although these kingdoms are not a part of Ghana’s civil government, they play a very important cultural and societal role.
Earlier this year, the Okyenhene designated Edmond as the future Amanonehene, or Foreign Affairs Chieftain. The coronation would establish Edmond as the Okyenhene’s voice to the world, seat him among Okyeman’s central figures, and confer one of the kingdom’s highest traditional honors.
The coronation was scheduled for July 4th, 2026, in Kyebi, the historic capital of Okyeman, during the annual Ohum Festival.
After my first visit, I knew there was nowhere I would rather be than back in Ghana on that date. Having witnessed the accession of Luxembourg’s new Grand Duke in 2025, I now had the chance to attend another historic ceremony rooted in a very different political and cultural tradition, yet similarly concerned with continuity, responsibility, and service.
A Second Coronation
On the morning of July 4th, 2026, the courtyard of the Ofori Panin Fie, or Okyeman royal palace, was filled with drumming and dancing as traditional dignitaries, diplomats, government officials, celebrities, and others filed in.
The day proceeded according to protocol. The coronation took place at 09:30 in the morning. During the ceremony, Edmond took an oath to faithfully serve the Okyenhene at all times. Then, following the consent of the elders, he was confirmed in his new role.
The ceremony was followed by a lunch and the Grand Ohum Durbar. The Grand Ohum Durbar was the focus of the Ohum Festival. A durbar is a formal public gathering or procession led by traditional chiefs and elders, usually involving ceremonial dress, drumming, dancing, speeches, and the presentation of homage. In the context of the Ohum Festival, it refers to the major ceremonial assembly where the traditional leadership and community gather publicly. The chiefs of staff to both Ghana’s current president and its former president were in attendance, showing how tradition can be a cultural and institutional anchor that transcends politics.
The day concluded with a royal banquet in honor of the Amanonehene. All in all, it was a day that will remain etched in local memory and resonate far beyond it.
A Story About Bridges
But a coronation is only a single date. As Amanonehene, Edmond will now be entrusted with representing the Okyeman kingdom to the outside world, building connections with institutions, partners, and diaspora communities while creating opportunities far beyond Okyeman’s borders. And he sees Luxembourg as a key partner.
Although Luxembourg is geographically one of Europe’s smallest countries, its people, economy, and history are profoundly international. Its influence has never been measured in square kilometers; it is measured in the people trusted to represent it and the relationships they build. That is what made the day in Kyebi matter. Edmond’s new standing gives him a stronger platform from which to deepen understanding of Luxembourg in Ghana and connect Ghana with partners in Europe.
Last year, in his first address as head of state, Grand Duke Guillaume spoke of building bridges: between generations, between tradition and innovation, between people. He called bridge-building one of Luxembourg’s great strengths.
Standing in Kyebi, at another “Trounwiessel” taking place over 6,500 kilometers away from the Grand Duchy, I understood the Grand Duke’s words in a whole new light. The bridge he described was right there in front of me, not a structure, but a person.
Congratulations to Edmond Boateng on this remarkable honor, and my sincere thanks to the people and leadership of Kyebi, Ghana, for their extraordinary welcome. Luxembourg’s global community reaches far beyond its borders, and in Kyebi, that story gained a memorable new chapter.
Some photographs used in this article are credited to Ameyaw TV and Eye on Ghana. All photographs remain the intellectual property of their respective creators.
