Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea situated to its south. It was also the first capital of Ghana. According to the 2021 census, Cape Coast had a settlement population of 189,925 people. The language of the people of Cape Coast is Fante.
The modern Mfantsefo or Fante confederacy is a combination of Akan people and aboriginal Guan people. The Fante people are mainly located in the Central and Western regions of Ghana, occupying the forest and coastal areas. Their land stretches from the eastern part of western region in the west to Gomoa in the east. The Fante can be broadly categorized into two groups - the Borbor Fante and the Etsii Fante who are also aboriginal Guan people. Over the last half century, Fante communities have been established as far as Gambia, Liberia, and even Angola due to fishing expeditions. Major Fante cities in modern Ghana include Oguaa, Edina (Elmina), Agona Swedru, Mankessim, Saltpond, Komenda and Anomabo.
The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in Ghana.
John Mensah Sarbah was a prominent lawyer and political leader in the Gold Coast. He is also known as a founder of Mfantsipim School.
Joseph Ephraim Casely Hayford,, also known as Ekra-Agyeman, was a prominent Fante Gold Coast journalist, editor, author, lawyer, educator, and politician who supported pan-African nationalism. His 1911 novel Ethiopia Unbound is one of the earliest novels published in English by an African.
William Ofori Atta, popularly called "Paa Willie", was a Ghanaian founding member of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and one of the founding fathers of Ghana as one of "The Big Six" detained by the British colonial government in the then Gold Coast. He later became a Minister for Foreign Affairs in Ghana's second republic between 1971 and 1972.
Ernest Eggay Kwesi Kurankyi-Taylor was a prominent Ghanaian judge and activist.
Victor Owusu was a Ghanaian politician and lawyer. He served as Attorney General and Minister for Justice on two occasions which were under the NLC and then Busia regime and also became Minister for Foreign Affairs under the Busia regime. He was the Popular Front Party's presidential candidate for the 1979 Ghanaian general election.
Kow Nkensen Arkaah was a Ghanaian politician who was Vice-President of Ghana from 1993 to 1997. He was also a chief of Senya Beraku.
Tsatsu Tsikata is a Ghanaian academic and lawyer. He is also a former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation. He is a notable affiliate and legal counsel to the National Democratic Congress and regarded as one of the leading members of the political party.
William Esuman-Gwira Sekyi, better known as Kobina Sekyi, was a nationalist lawyer, politician and writer in the Gold Coast.
Willem Essuman Pietersen, also known as Willem Edmund Pietersen, was a Gold Coast merchant, politician, and educationist. He is also remembered as a goldsmith and watch repairer. Pietersen was co-founder of Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast, Ghana.
The Awoonor-Renner family or Awunor-Renner family is a Sierra Leone Creole medical, legal, and commercial dynasty with branches of the family in Ghana. The Awoonor-Renner, Awoonor-Wilson, Awoonor-Gordon families are branches of the Awoonor-Williams family that originated from Waterloo, Sierra Leone, and derived "Awoonor" from the Awuna territory in Keta. The Awoonor-Renner family has produced several distinguished doctors, lawyers, and businessmen in Sierra Leone, Ghana, and the United Kingdom. Alongside families such as the Dove family, Easmon family and Smith family, the Awoonor-Renners are among the wealthy Aristo or aristocratic Creole families. In the Gold Coast, the family was part of the country's African political elite and some members were affiliated with the Aboriginal Rights Protection Society (ARPS), which included such activists as John Mensah Sarbah, Kobina Sekyi and J. E. Casely Hayford.
The Historical Society of Ghana is a nonprofit organisation based in Accra, Ghana dedicated to the collection, preservation, interpretation and promotion of Ghanaian history and culture. It was established in 1951 by the Gold Coast intelligentsia. The founding group of scholars included Albert Adu Boahen, John D. Fage, J. B. Danquah, Alexander Adum Kwapong, Kobina Sekyi and Nana Kobina Nketsia. Several public institutions coordinate the work of the historical society. These include high schools, normal colleges and public research universities such as the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Cape Coast, University of Education, Winneba, the University for Development Studies, Tamale. Areas covered include archaeology, anthropology, history, linguistics, sociology among others. By 1983, the work of the society had collapsed due to a military dictatorship and an economic downturn in Ghana. The historical society resumed its work in 2001. In its early years, the organisation was the publisher of the Ghana Notes and Queries and Teachers Journal targeting history tutors in Ghanaian high schools. From 1952 to 1956, the Society published the Transactions of the Gold Coast & Togoland Historical Society. After Ghana gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, the journal became the Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, re-introduced twice in 1995 and 1998 after a period of dormancy.
Dr. Kofi Dsane-Selby was a former Ambassador of Ghana during Dr. Busia and Kufour's regimes.
