Food, language among other surprising cultural ties between Ghana and Suriname

• Ghana and Suriname share strong cultural links through food, language, names and traditional leadership systems despite being continents apart.

• Ghanaian traditions such as fufu, day-of-the-week naming, continue to thrive among Suriname’s Maroon communities.

• The shared heritage traces back to the transatlantic slave trade, when many Akan-speaking people from present-day Ghana were taken to Suriname, preserving their identity across generations.

Ghana in West Africa and Suriname in South America may seem worlds apart. One lies on the Gulf of Guinea; the other sits on the northeastern coast of South America, bordered by Brazil, Guyana and French Guiana.

But despite the ocean between them, the two countries share deep cultural links that have survived for centuries. From food and language to names, spirituality and traditional leadership, many traces of Ghanaian culture still live strongly in Suriname today.

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This connection dates back to the transatlantic slave trade, when thousands of Africans, many from the Gold Coast, now Ghana, were forcibly taken to plantations in Suriname by European slave traders between the 17th and 19th centuries.

Historians estimate that a significant number of enslaved Africans taken to Suriname came from Akan-speaking communities, including Ashanti, Fante and other ethnic groups from present-day Ghana.

Many escaped slavery and formed independent communities in Suriname’s forests, known today as Maroon communities. Even after centuries, much of that heritage remains alive.

One of the strongest cultural connections between Ghana and Suriname is food. In Ghana, fufu is one of the most popular dishes, made by pounding cassava, yam or plantain into a soft swallow usually eaten with soup.

Suriname has a similar dish known as tom-tom, especially among Afro-Surinamese and Maroon communities. Tom-tom is made from mashed plantain and cornmeal dumplings and is similar to traditional West African preparation methods.

Many Surinamese also enjoy foods familiar to Ghanaians, including; Gari, Groundnut soup, Okro soup. As one Surinamese woman put it:

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Another shared culinary tradition is the use of fermented seeds for flavouring soups and stews. In Ghana, especially in the northern parts, dawadawa (locust bean) is widely used in cooking because of its rich flavour and aroma.

Similar fermented seasoning traditions exist in Suriname’s Afro-descendant communities, showing how ancestral food practices survived across the Atlantic.

One of Ghana’s most famous naming traditions is still alive in Suriname. Among Akan and Ashanti people in Ghana, children are often named according to the day they were born: Kofi, Kwame, Kwaku, Ama, Akosua. This exact naming tradition crossed the Atlantic during slavery.

Today, Maroon groups in Suriname such as the Saamaka (Saramaka) and Ndjuka (Ndyuka) still use these names. Names like: Kofi, Kwaku, Ama / Amba remain common.

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Several words in Suriname still sound similar to Ghanaian expressions. Examples include:

• Opetey — bird (Vulture)

• Bosom kyi in Suriname resembles Bosomtwe in Ghana

• Kedeampong resembles Twedeampong in Ghana

• Ɛyɛ or “3y3” — means “good” in Twi

Ghana and Suriname also share similarities in traditional governance. In Ghana, chiefs and kings play important roles in local governance, dispute resolution and cultural preservation. Suriname has comparable systems among Maroon communities. The highest traditional leaders there are called ‘Granman, pronounced similar to the name ‘Ga Mantse’ in Ghana.

Perhaps one of the most fascinating similarities is place names. Suriname has locations resembling Ghanaian ones, including Tamale and Tumu. For many Ghanaians, hearing such names in South America feels almost unbelievable. But these names serve as reminders of ancestral memory carried across generations.