Ambassador Retzlaff (left) and Dr. Oswald (middle) addressing the media from the conference room of the German Embassy in Accra
Germany is looking out for means to strengthen its bilateral relationship with Ghana as it sees the West African nation as its key partner in Africa.
Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ghana, Christoph Retzlaff, made this known to journalists at the German Embassy on Friday in Accra.
He made the assurance barely a day after the German government pledged a €86.5 million grant for Ghana for 2019/2020.
According to the envoy, Ghana is, indeed, a key partner for Germany in Africa.
He said the German government is keen on strengthening its bilateral relationship with Ghana which dates back to 1957, the year Ghana gained independence from its colonial master, Britain.
Commenting on the €86.5 million grant, Director for the African Region of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation & Development, Dr. Stefan Oswald, explained that Ghana and Germany held the 2018 edition of their bilateral negotiations at the Ministry of Finance in Accra on October 9 and 10.
According to him, the negotiations were led by himself and Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Finance, Abena Osei-Asare.
During the meeting, he said both nations confirmed four priority areas of development and cooperation.
The priority areas, he mentioned, are reform and investment partnership under the ‘G20 Compact with Africa Initiative’ with focus on renewable energy, agriculture, governance and sustainable economic development.
It is in support of the above mentioned focal areas, he stated, that the €86.5 million was committed by the German government, and it comprises support to technical cooperation programmes to a tune of €35.5 million and €51.0 million for financial cooperation projects.
According to him, both countries agreed to intensify their cooperation in the renewable energy sector through in-depth talks in the coming weeks.
Breakdown
Furthermore, the director explained that out of the total grant amount, €6 million has been earmarked for market-oriented agriculture programme; €9.5 million for governance; €13.0 million for programme for sustainable economic development; €2.0 million for study and expert fund and €5.0 million for recycling and disposal of waste of electrical equipment in an environmentally sound way.
Future Meetings
According to him, the German government is highly impressed with measures being taken by President Akufo-Addo’s government to promote private sector development.
Thus, he pointed out that the German government would sustain the cooperation with Ghana.
Dr. Oswald averred that “both countries will now meet every two years (dubbed Ghana-Germany Bilateral Negotiations) to review achievements under the cooperation, recount the opportunities and discuss the challenges in the implementation of ongoing interventions funded by Germany.”
He added that “the negotiations also present an opportunity to identify and agree on new focal areas which would define the cooperation in the ensuing years.
BY Melvin Tarlue