By James Amoh Junior
Accra, April 27, GNA – Ghana and Namibia share long-standing historical bonds of friendship that dates back to Namibia’s liberation struggle.
Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and Ghana, actively supported Namibia’s Independence struggle spearheaded by the South-West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), under the able leadership of His Excellency Dr. Sam Nujoma.
The common history of liberation was built on President Nkrumah’s Declaration that Ghana’s Independence was meaningless unless it was linked with the total liberation of the African continent.
The fraternal relations and cooperation between the two countries have continued to grow stronger over the years, with the exchange of high-level visits and a shared vision and desire to work together for the prosperity of their Peoples.
The progress towards strengthening cooperation in fields such as education, health, air transport services, aviation, security, trade, and investment, among others, is testament to the high commitment of succeeding Governments, on both sides, to overcome the conditions that keep the nations and their people from realising a better Africa.
Ghana-Namibia bilateral relations
As part of efforts to strengthen and deepen bilateral relations, Ghana and Namibia have signed several Cooperation Agreements and MoUs in various fields.
These include a Framework Agreement for Cooperation signed on February 5, 1992, during the State Visit to Ghana by Dr. Sam Nujoma, the Founding President and Father of Namibia.
Also, a Cooperation Agreements – Protocol for the Establishment of a Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC), an Agreement on Cultural and Scientific Cooperation, an Agreement for Economic and Technical Cooperation.
It was signed during a reciprocal state visit undertaken on September 14, 1994, by the former President of Ghana, the late Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, which witnessed the inaugural session of the Ghana-Namibia Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation.
A Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the field of Higher Education and Training between the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Ghana and the Ministry of Higher Education, Training, and Innovation of the Republic of Namibia was signed in 2019, during the Third PJCC, while another MoU for Cooperation in Ports Management between Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and Namibia Ports Authority was also signed.
To further strengthen the diplomatic and bilateral ties, an MoU for Mutual Exemptions of Visa Requirement for Holders of Diplomatic, Official/Service Passports; and an MoU for the Holding of Political and Diplomatic Consultations were both signed on 25th August, 2011, during the State visit to Namibia by the late President Prof. Evans Atta Mills.
Through these Agreements and MoUs, the cooperation between Ghana and Namibia has been expanded.
That, Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, and Madam Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of Namibia, collectively agreed is at the heart of efforts for the welfare of the youth of both countries and the need to provide jobs for them and help them acquire entrepreneurial skills to generate jobs for themselves and others.
Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC)
The first session of the Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation was held in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia in 1992, where an agreement was signed.
The fourth session of the Ghana-Namibia Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC) held from April 18-21, 2022, witnessed intensive and fruitful discussions by the two sides on several issues pertinent to deepening of the bilateral relations that exist between them.
The session reviewed the implementation of signed agreements and MoUs as well as considering new areas for cooperation in the fields of tourism, education, agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture development, trade and economic cooperation, youth and sports development, investments, maritime cooperation, private sector development.
The rest are development of small and medium-scale enterprises, women economic empowerment, cooperation in health and medical services, oil, and gas as well as training programmes in the areas of security, environmental protection, and diplomacy.
Particularly, a Cooperation Agreement on Tourism, Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation, an MoU on Maritime Cooperation, MoU on Cooperation in the field of Social Protection, Gender Mainstreaming and Women Empowerment were also signed.
There were also an MoU on Cooperation in the field of Youth and Sports Development, and an MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Agriculture.
Prospects of the PJCC through AfCFTA
With the operationalisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), it is imperative for the countries to give greater attention to bilateral and intra-Africa trade.
Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, speaking at the Ministerial Session of the fourth PJCC, says it is important to take advantage of the huge market of 1.2 billion people that the AfCFTA brings to accelerate Africa’s economic integration.
The Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister says it is crucial that the private sector of the two countries positions itself to benefit from that market.
To that end, she says there is the need for African businesses to develop value-added supply chains based on processing of the abundant raw materials the continent is endowed with in conformity with the provisions of the AfCFTA Agreement.
Recent developments – Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war – have reminded the continent of the need to boost intra-Africa trade as well as boost its agricultural production capacities and patronise, as much as possible, African-made products.
In the area of Air transport, the Minister urges authorities of Air Namibia to restore their operations in Ghana as it is vital to boost person-to-person contact, and an important factor in the trade and economic cooperation of both countries.
“In addition, Air Namibia could consider incorporating the huge market of travelers in Nigeria in its Windhoek-Accra-Windhoek route.”
Madam Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, says COVID-19 reaffirms the importance of self-reliance, be it in services, food, transportation, energy, manufacturing, among others.
She says Africans have the opportunity through the African Continental Free Trade Area to maximise intra African trade and boost economic recovery and sustainable development.
“Instruments such as those related to Trade and Economic Cooperation as well as Development and Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises are vehicles that we must effectively use to improve our bilateral trade. We now have no reason not to increase bilateral trade,” Madam Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
Enhanced bilateral cooperation non-negotiable
She says: “Our bilateral relations and cooperation can only become stronger and prosperous when we combine efforts to address common challenges and take full advantage of shared opportunities for mutual benefit.”
She says furthering such strong bilateral cooperation is nonnegotiable and that there is need to foster cooperation between the two countries in agriculture which is essential for food security, self–sufficiency and agri-business, Fisheries and Marine Resources.
“As Namibia and Ghana are both coastal countries, to benefit from the opportunities granted by the blue economy, cooperation in the maritime sector is key as well as tourism.”
Youth and Sport, the Deputy Prime Minister says, is imperative as the youth is the biggest population in both countries and the priority in Africa must be to empower them through education, SME Development, Arts and Culture as well as Sports and cooperation in oil and gas, especially after Namibia has developed a green hydrogen power and hydroelectricity power plant to provide sufficient clean energy for its people and Africa.
She says as a uranium producing country, Namibia has greater value on nuclear energy and nuclear technology for peaceful use and happy its officials initiated discussions with the Ghana Atomic Energy Agency.
Looking forward
Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, is optimistic that the Government of Ghana will continue collaboration with Namibia at the multilateral level to address the security threats that confront the region and globally.
She welcomes the decision to activate the mechanism for Political Consultations, as it will enable the two countries to take stock of their bilateral relations more frequently and ensure the implementation of the Agreed Minutes, the signed Agreements, and the MoUs.
Of particular importance will be the need to expand future cooperation in a manner that will be beneficial to the two countries and Africa at large, while leveraging the opportunity to assess current bilateral programmes and exploring new areas of cooperation.
The Namibia – Ghana Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation speaks to the common developmental challenges and aspirations in the different thematic areas for cooperation and it is hoped that the prepared proposals are implementable with outcomes that are generally beneficial to both countries.
GNA