Being a single black woman in America makes it hard enough to date and find your perfect match. So some might think that moving to Africa would make finding their Black king easy. Intimacy coach Erica Daniel was in for a surprise when she realized how important it was to understand cultural differences when dating in Ghana.

Originally from Ohio, Daniel was living in Washington, D.C., when she moved to Ghana in 2013. She had already lived in Ghana as a college student when she was part of an exchange program at the University of Ghana. “I had the greatest time during my year of study abroad,” she said. It was one of the best experiences, but she had no plans to return to Ghana and live.

“God had his way, and he brought me back,” she said. “At the time I was working at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and an opportunity came up.” She said three people reached out to her and that was a divine confirmation for her to eventually move to Ghana, even though it had not been in her plans. She eventually left the World Bank and now works with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“I have a masters in public health from George Washington University,” she said. She’s also certified as an intimacy coach and is passionate about bridging the gap between Ghanaians and the diaspora community when it comes to relationships.

“I remember there was a time when we were talking about dating and my one housemate got really angry and upset with me because over the course of one month I had gone on six dates,” she said. “In my American mind that means I’m going for coffee, I’m having a dinner, a lunch, there’s nothing binding. But for her, that meant I was sleeping with six people.” This was an aha moment for her when she realized the cultural differences between America and Ghana in dating.

She launched an event series called “For the Love of Fufu.” She created this as a platform to bring Ghanaians and diasporans together at an event serving one of Ghana’s most popular foods, fufu. Traditionally, Ghanaians will have the most bonding over food, especially when it’s a shared experience. Each event had a theme that allowed for interaction and fun games to help forge positive connections.

When the pandemic hit and lockdown started she shifted to a virtual series. “So one of the virtual series we did during Covid, was ‘Dating Nkonkonsa,’ and Nkonkonsa basically means ‘gossip,’ what’s going on around town. And so it was a very fun series. We talked about dating in Accra, dating from a man’s perspective, a female perspective, a Ghanaian dating a diasporan … a diasporan dating a Ghanaian, and also what is it like to be Christian and dating in Accra as well.”

Culture plays an important role when it comes to dating in Ghana. Although millennials are adopting some of the norms of Western society, American Blacks will discover there is still a lot of tradition in Ghanaians when they are in romantic relationships. Dating in Ghana may be complicated, but it’s also a lot of fun.