By Iddi Yire
Accra, Dec 20, GNA – Madam Norma Ang Sánchez, the Mexican Ambassador to Ghana, Thursday paid a courtesy call on President-elect John Dramani Mahama at his Cantonment office in Accra to congratulate him on his election victory on December 7.
Mexico was ready to share its knowledge and experience in agriculture with Ghana, especially in maize and coconut production, to increase yield, she said.
She called for the elevation of bilateral relations between the two nations and urged Ghana to see Mexico as a strategic ally in the global arena.
Mr Mahama, on his part, lauded Mexico for opening up her bilateral partnership by establishing an embassy in Ghana to enhance cooperation and sharing of experiences.
“I do think that there is a lot of room for us to cooperate and learn from each other, because Mexico is in the kind of position that Ghana is in; we are all developing countries… , because all of us face the same headwinds when it comes to our relations with the bigger, advanced countries,” he said.
Mr Mahama reiterated the need for both Ghana and Mexico to continue to solidarise so that their voices would be heard better on the global scene.
He said it would be useful for Ghana to learn from Mexico how it had managed rural development, housing, and especially agriculture, which would transform Ghana’s peasant agriculture into a more modernised one.
“This is one of the transitions Ghana is finding very difficult to do; to scheme up its small-scale farmers into medium-scale farmers…”, he said.
Concerning maize production, Mr Mahama touched on the low quality and the control of aflatoxins, and said Ghana could tap into Mexico’s experience to improve quality for local consumption and export.
“We used to supply maize to the Food and Agriculture Organisation in the World Food Programme, but the aflatoxins level was very important, and so they stopped buying because we were not controlling that issue well,” he noted.
Touching on poultry, the President-elect questioned why Ghana should spend 500 million dollars on importation of chicken every year.
He said the incoming administration would exchange technology with Mexico to improve Ghana’s poultry industry and produce more for the local and foreign markets.
On the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which had a market of 1.3 billion people, Mr Mahama noted that it gave African countries the opportunity to export into each other’s markets, tariff-free.
He said his administration would work towards getting the technology and investors to use Ghana as a hub for manufacturing for export.
With regards to coconut production, he said the Cape Saint Paul Wilt Disease, which had no cure, had destroyed coconut plantations in the country.
Mr Mahama said the coconut industry sustained a lot of families in Ghana, but the disease affected so many of the plantations, where the trees just had to be cut down, depriving the families of income.
Ghana would tap into Mexico’s experience in that regard to add value to her coconut and related products such as the fibre, he said.
He suggested an exchange of visits by him and his Mexican counterpart, President Claudia Sheinbaum, to explore business opportunities in both countries.
“… Maybe your President’s first visit to Africa should be to Ghana,” the President-elect said.
GNA