President nana Akufo-Addo and President Alassane Ouattara
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara will arrive in the country today to begin a two-day official visit to Ghana.
A statement from the presidency and signed by Director of Communications, Eugene Arhin, indicates, “The purpose of the visit is to deepen further the already strong relations that exist between the two countries, as well as explore other areas of co-operation to their mutual benefit.”
He also pointed out, “This visit is a reciprocal one to the visit made to Cote d’Ivoire by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in May this year, at the start of his tour of the countries of West Africa.”
The two heads of state and their respective teams are expected to hold bilateral discussions at the Flagstaff House later this afternoon, after which the two leaders will address a joint press conference.
Later in the evening, President Akufo-Addo will host his Ivorian counterpart to an official dinner.
Prior to President Ouattara’s departure on Tuesday, October 17, 2017, the two countries are expected to sign a bilateral agreement and inaugurate a joint commission for the implementation of the recent judgement passed by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on the delimitation of the maritime boundaries of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.
It will be recalled that from 5th May to 7th May, 2017, President Akufo-Addo paid a three-day visit to Cote d’Ivoire, at the commencement of his tour of the countries of West Africa.
During that visit, President Akufo-Addo revealed that the close co-operation between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire would be facilitated by a new initiative dubbed, “An Agreement For a Strategic Partnership,” that would be signed by the two countries.
This agreement, according to the president, would bind Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire “in even closer intimacy and go beyond the bounds of the concept of the Permanent Joint Commission, which is the conventional tool for co-operation.”
One of the areas of focus of this agreement would be in the cocoa industry.
President Akufo-Addo was also decorated with the Highest National Award of Cote d’Ivoire – La Grande Croix dansl’ordre National Ivorien – at a state dinner held in his honour by President Alassane Ouattara.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent