Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey in a pose with the Israeli Premier, Benjamin Netanyahu
Accra and Tel Aviv have rekindled their ties with a resolve to deepen their bilateral and economic cooperation. This follows a discussion held in Jerusalem between the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, and the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem.
Mr Netanyahu lauded Ghana for the 8 per cent economic growth and pledged to increase Israeli investment in Ghana.
Ghana and Israel have had long standing relations which dates back to the 1950s. Ghana was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to recognise Israel in 1958. The then Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meier and Dr Kwame Nkrumah were very good friends. The first presidential aircraft used by President Nkrumah was given to Ghana by Israel.
This continued during the era of Dr Busia’s government which led to the beginning of the Accra Sewage Project but it was halted when his government was toppled in a coup d’état by military led General I.K. Acheampong in 1972.
Although diplomatic ties dwindled in the 70’s between the two countries, between 2007 and 2011 saw a revival of a very friendly relationship and both countries have since established stronger presence in Accra and Tel Aviv.
In pursuance of Ghana’s economic transformation agenda which is anchored on industrialization and trade, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey is in Israel to share the vision of the government in order to woo Israeli investors.
She met with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said Ghana has a population of 30 million with 60 per cent of them being in the youthful bracket.
She also told the Israeli Premier that with the skilful youthful population, coupled with Ghana’s resources, it would be mutually beneficial if ICT and agribusiness companies from Israel invest in Ghana.
The Foreign Affairs Minister assured the Israelis that the government of Ghana had put in place laws that protect the interests of investors and urged them to put Ghana high on the map of investment.
Prime Minister Netanyahu described Ghana’s economic strides made in the last 20 months as very impressive. He said his government is prepared to scale up its investment in Africa and Ghana is one of the countries Israel wants to do business with.
He added that he looks forward to hosting President Akufo-Addo in Israel in the first quarter of 2019. Mr Netanyahu commended the Ghanaian President for his leadership and stressed that he wants to ensure that the bond of friendship between the two countries is taken to another height in order to better the lot of their citizens.
Trade volumes between Ghana and Israel are less than one billion dollars in favour of Israel. Some of the Israeli companies in Ghana include Dizengoff, Sonitra, STL and PW2. Israel is a world leader when it comes to security, technology, agriculture and water management.