Ghana, Nigeria resolve to improve ties

Monday, October 10, 2011

By Edmund Mingle
Ghana and Nigeria have resolved to in their friendship with the hope of advancing their economic cooperation for the benefit of their people.

Presidents John Evans Atta Mills, and his Nigerian counterpart, President Goodluck Jonathan, who was in Ghana over the weekend, agreed that although the longstanding political, cultural, and social collaboration between the two were flourishing, the economic cooperation needed more improvement.

In that regard, they agreed at the end of talks to institute the necessary measures to remove all barriers to effective trade between Ghana and Nigeria.

At a pre-departure news conference on Saturday at the end of the two-day State visit of the Nigeria leader, the two Presidents expressed optimism that the commitment of their governments towards their promotion of the political and cultural relations, would continue to permeate the economic cooperation between the two West Africa nations, both of whom play leadership roles on the continent.

Presidents Mills and Jonathan also expressed the resolve of their governments to work together towards improving the integration of the West Africa, bearing in mind that the actions of the two countries affect the progress of the sub-region.

Ghana, President Mills said, was fully committed to the relations with Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, stressing that cooperation with the country’s neighbours, was a priority to the government.
“We have the right commitment to regional cooperation,” he said, adding that Ghana was aware of its responsibility as a leader in Africa, to continue to promote regional integration and quality trade.
“There is more we can achieve through cooperation and partnership with countries like Nigeria,” he said.
He believes the common development challenges that face Ghana and Nigeria are not insurmountable, and therefore, called for the right co-operation and collaboration between the two countries so that they will be able to overcome these Challenges with a common solutions.

For his part, President John, who is the chairman of ECOWAS, also gave assurance of his government’s preparedness to increase trade with Ghana, and also promote regional economic integration.

“You can’t talk about trade when you can’t move goods from Accra to Lagos freely,” he said, deploring the slow pace of integration of the sub-region.

Luckily, he said all the West African States are politically stable, which provides an impetus for economic growth that would help in promoting the progress of the sub-regional economic through increased regional trade.


President Jonathan, who was honoured with an honorary law doctorate degree by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration on Saturday, commended Ghana for the impressive democratic and economic performance, as well as its contribution to the progress of the continent over the years.

He said apart from Ghana blazing the trail for the emancipation of Africa from colonialism, Ghana continues to show clear political leadership for the rest of the continent to emulate.

Earlier at a State Banquet held in his honour, President Jonathan was sure that effective cooperation between Ghana and Nigeria would greatly contribute to strengthening ECOWAS.

He also urged both Ghanaian and Nigerian investors to take advantage of the flourishing ties between the two nations, and explore the business opportunities in Ghana and Nigeria.

“This is because our efforts to attract foreign investors will not yield much if we do not invest locally,” he said.

Similarly, President Mills, proposing the toast at the banquet, called for more partnership between the people of the two nations for the proper investments.

He said Ghanaians and Nigerians have to work together in the common good of the two nations, since Ghana and Nigeria abound with high caliber of expertise in various fields.

President Mills congratulated his guest on his election as the President of Nigeria, saying it was “a demonstration of the determination of African countries to embrace and entrench democracy and rule of law.”

Also former university don, President Mills commended President Jonathan, who shared a similar background, for transcending academia into politics successfully, saying “academia cannot be left out of politics entirely.”

To contribute to the sustenance of democracy in Africa, President Mills reiterated his resolve to ensure that Ghana's 2012 election was free, fair and transparent.

“This is because the country has a standard to maintain, and to send the right signal to the rest of world that Africa is changing for the better,” he said.

END