Accra, Jan. 11, GNA – Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, has received letters of credence from Mr Ali Redjei, the Ambassador-Designate of Algeria to Ghana.
At the meeting in Accra, the Minister congratulated Mr Redjei on his appointment as Algeria’s Ambassador to Ghana.
She recalled the very strong relations that had existed between the two countries dating back to the anti-colonial era during the tenure of Ghana’s first President Dr Kwame Nkrumah, and the strong bond of friendship that existed then in fighting for the liberation of the African continent.
She lauded Algeria for the strong support given to Ghana in 2021, when she was bidding for a non-permanent member seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
She also recalled the bilateral cooperation that had existed between the two countries and also at the level of multilateral, in which they worked together on various issues.
Madam Ayorkor Botchwey noted that there were over one hundred Ghanaian students in Algeria of which many were on scholarships; saying “we do not take such gestures lightly at all. These are gestures of strong friendship, because Algeria has seen it fit to contribute to the human resource development of this country, which is a pillar of our policy of Ghana Beyond Aid, where we pay a lot of attention with a focus on education.”
On trade and investment between the two nations, the Minister intimated that a lot needed to be done, and that Ghana was the leading destination for foreign direct investments, saying, “we will like to see more cooperation in that area between Algeria and Ghana”.
She commended Algeria for supporting Ghana, when she was bidding for the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and that they looked forward to seeing more robust cooperation between their two countries.
She suggested that as part of the cooperation between the two countries, Algeria would serve as a bridge to North Africa for Ghana while Ghana served as a bridge for Algeria to the West of the continent.
She urged both countries not to take lightly the huge market formalized as a result of the formation of the AfCFTA; stating that “a market of 1.2 billion is not a small market. We need to start trading among ourselves. And that I think should be one of your areas of focus as you (Mr
Redjei) are here.”
Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said to be able to make progress in the continental free area, peace and security were one of the major areas that they had to work on; declaring that “without peace and security, there is no development. So, we can’t have the free movement that we so desire….”.
On his part, Mr Redjei conveyed fraternal greetings from Mr Ramtane Lamamra, the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, to Madam Ayorkor Botchwey.
He noted that the Algerian Foreign Minister wished to pursue political consultations with his Ghanaian counterpart in order to further promote bilateral relations of cooperation and solidarity between their two countries, and deepen the exchange of views on Africa’s regional issues, especially those of common interest to the two countries.
He said during his tenure, he would seek to boost the bilateral relations between the two countries at the political, economic, security, cultural and technical levels.
He said that the two nations had great potentials and were committed to implementing development plans that allowed them to establish beneficial partnership.
GNA