President Akufo-Addo with President Umaro Sissoco Embalo
The governments of Ghana and Guinea-Bissau have announced the inauguration of a permanent joint commission for cooperation and development for the two countries.
The announcement was made when the President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embaló paid a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House yesterday as part of his three-day state visit to Ghana.
The two leaders met the press after a bilateral meeting.
President Akufo-Addo said the concept of establishing a joint committee had already been agreed upon, however, the date and where the inauguration would take place was being worked on.
“As I indicated to you, cooperation in the fishery sector for instance, is something that could be of great benefit to us as well as to you. We’ve got schools here that are well equipped for education in the fishery sector. I think that it is an area where we can be of benefit to residents of Guinea-Bissau to come here to go to the schools…fishery schools, we also have a Regional Maritime Academy, and all these things we can put together in the fisheries sector and provide us with an opportunity to go forward,” he said.
He said it focused on multiple sectors and was confident the two countries will work their modalities for the implementation of the agreements reached following the talks.
“The ministerial teams of our two countries held talks aimed at deepening the bilateral relations between our two countries and exploring in detail areas of possible cooperation between Ghana and Guinea-Bissau for the mutual benefit of our peoples,” President Akufo-Addo said.
“The discussions in the areas of education, trade and industry, agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, environment, science and technology, petroleum and hydrocarbon activities and tourism were held in an atmosphere of fruitful cordiality,” the President added.
“As we have been saying, we have come to office in difficult times in the life of West Africa. These various unconstitutional changes of government… you yourself suffered an attempted coup…yeah, it’s a difficult moment, but I think it is extremely important for those of us who are committed to democratic rule to continue to be very vigilant and also to be united in our response to what is going on in West Africa,” he stressed.
President Akufo-Addo, who made the appeal during a tête-à-tête session with the visiting president of Guinea-Bissau at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday, said there was a lot the two countries could do together in that direction.
On his part, President Umaro Sissoco Embaló said he has great respect for Ghana, its leaders and people.
“I am here to reiterate our conviction that together, working hand by hand in the spirit of brotherhood, complementarity and solidarity, we can achieve many important objectives,” the Guinea-Bissau leader said.
He said Ghana occupied a special place in the heart of the people of Guinea-Bissau, and both countries would continue to work to deepen the relations.
He said the role played by Ghana in the African liberation struggles which paved the way for the independence of the people of Africa could not be overemphasised, stressing that “It is here in Accra that many freedom fighters including that of my own country found inspiration and indeed the needed political and material support to conduct the struggle for the liberation of the country from foreign domination and occupation.”
President Embaló said his visit was geared towards deepening his country’s bilateral relations with Ghana and in all areas of common interest.
He assured that his country would continue to share in many important fields like education, technology, agriculture, economy and finance as well as defence and security.
“We in West Africa and Sahel in particular are facing many challenges fighting terrorism and drug trafficking. Promoting democracy and good governance are among the most important ones. We shall continue to work together with ECOWAS and the Africa Union to promote more accountability,” he stated.
He said Guinea-Bissau supported Ghana’s call for the establishment of strong financial institution in Africa, especially African Central Bank, an African Investment Bank, an African Monetary Fund and Pan-African Insurance Agency.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent