Five new envoys from France, Angola, Namibia, South Sudan, and China on Monday presented their Letters of Credence to President John Dramani Mahama at the Credentials Hall of the Presidency in Accra.
They include Madam Diarra Dime Labille, Ambassador of France; Mr Rui Orlando Ferraira De Ceita Da Silva Xaxier, Ambassador of Angola; and Madam Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata, High Commissioner of Namibia.
The rest are Madam Jacquiline Natepi Ben Lochalamoi, Ambassador of South Sudan, and Mr. Cong Song, Ambassador of China.
President Mahama, in his remarks, reiterated Ghana’s commitment to deepening bilateral relations with friendly countries worldwide.
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He thanked the Governments of Angola, Namibia, South Sudan, and China for their support for Ghana at the recent UN General Assembly Meeting, during the vote to adopt Ghana’s Resolution to recognise the slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity”.
The adoption of the resolution, which was tabled by President Mahama, the African Union Champion for Reparations, would hopefully now pave the way for healing, justice, and the payment of reparations.
During his meeting with the Chinese Ambassador, the President said the two nations had shared a very long history of their diplomatic relations, which they hold in high esteem.
“I want to truly thank President Xi Jinping for his recent invitation to visit China and the bilateral talks that we had,” President Mahama said.
“I want to thank him very much for the two grants that he is giving us. One to establish the Aflao markets and the second to establish a university in the Savannah Region.”
The President said the Ghana-China relations had been historic because of the personal relations that existed between Ghana’s First President Dr Kwame Nkrumah, and Chairman Mao Zedong and Prime Minister Zhou Enlai of China.
“And we reminisce that our First President was overthrown on his way to Vietnam when he landed in China, and the announcement of the coup d’etat took place. The Chinese were very kind to him until he relocated to Guinea. And so we share a lot of history,” President Mahama said.
He expressed gratitude to President Xi and China for the role they played in the debt restructuring for Ghana.
President Mahama said China and France were the co-chairs of the framework that discussed Ghana’s restructuring, and China played a very positive role in getting them the final agreement on debt restructuring.
He reiterated that since that agreement was signed, Ghana had lived up to expectations.
“We paid the debt down, and the debt to GDP has come from above 60 per cent to 45 per cent at the end of last year.
And so we brought our debt back to sustainable levels. And so I want to thank China for the role that you played,” he said.
“We have also created a better investment environment. We’ve stabilized the macro-economy, and inflation has come down. Interest rates have come down.”
He said Ghanaians were beginning to see it in the foreign direct investment numbers, adding that foreign direct investment had gone up.
President Mahama said a good percentage of the investments that were coming in from the private sector were coming from China.
He said Ghanaians appreciated that because it helped to create employment for their young people.
He noted that they would continue to work together to attract as many private sector investors into Ghana as possible.
The President said one new area that China was investing in was in the mining area.
He reaffirmed Ghana’s support for the One China Policy, adding that they would continue to work together for world peace and security.
The envoys reiterated their commitment to improve the bilateral partnership between Ghana and their respective countries.
On his part, Mr Cong Song, Ambassador of China, extended warm greetings and best wishes from Chinese President Xi Jinping to President Mahama.
The Ambassador also expressed his goodwill and the friendship of the Chinese Government and People to the Government and People of Ghana.
He also congratulated President Mahama on representing Africa in submitting to the UN General Assembly’s Resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime in human history.
“This is a victory for Ghana, and this is a victory for Africa, and China supports that. And China will always stand firmly together with our African friends to correct the historical injustice and uphold the fairness and justice of the world.” Mr. Cong said.
He noted that China and Ghana enjoyed a time of friendship dating back to their founding leaders, President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Chairman Mao Zedong, and Premier Zhou Enlai of China.
GNA