President leaves for France, Guyana, Belgium, Germany and UK

Accra, Feb. 10, GNA – President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Thursday left Ghana for a ten-day working visit to France, Guyana, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom.

He would first visit Brest, France, where, at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron, will participate in the One Ocean Summit, to be held on Friday, February 11, 2022.

Forty world leaders are expected to make ambitious and concrete commitments towards combating illegal fishing, decarbonising shipping and reducing plastic pollution at what is billed as the first high-level summit dedicated to the ocean.

Thereafter, the President will, at the invitation of Dr. Mohamed Irfan Ali, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, travel to Georgetown, Guyana, participate and deliver the keynote address at the maiden International Energy Conference and Expo by Guyana holding from February 15 to 18, 2022.

Ghana and Guyana are developing close working relations in the oil and gas sector.

After his visit to the Guyana, President Akufo-Addo will travel to Marburg, Germany, to participate, together with Presidents Macky Sall of Senegal and Paul Kagame of Rwanda, at the presentation of the BioNtech modular production facility for MRNA vaccines on Wednesday, February 16, 2022, towards a pan-African Project for the establishment of a vaccine manufacturing plant in Africa.

He will then travel to Paris, France, to meet with President Emmanuel Macron, together with other African Heads of State, on the security situation in the Sahel and Africa, in general.

He will also participate in a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron and some Heads of State from the ECOWAS Region in the morning of February 17, 2022, to discuss the security situation in ECOWAS.

After that meeting, the President will travel to Brussels, Belgium, to participate in the two-day Africa Union-European Union (AU-EU) Summit to be held from February 17 February, 2022, and then travel to the United Kingdom for a private visit.

The President is accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey; the Minister of National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah; the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Kwaku Afriyie; and officials of the Presidency and Foreign Ministry.

He is expected to return to Ghana on Sunday, February 20, 2022.

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will act in his stead.

GNA