The Minister for Foreign Affairs And Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey has charged the European Union to continue investing in Ghana.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Ghana-European Union Political Dialogue in Accra, Ayorkor Botchwey said Ghana will take advantage of hosting the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to bridge the gap between Africa and the EU for the full benefit for all member states.
“Having won the rights to host the secretariat of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, Ghana is poised to design and implement effective strategies and policies to support the rapid and inclusive growth of our economy. This will be done by boosting the country’s economic competitiveness in job creation under the new continental trade regime.”
“Indeed, as close to the AfCFTA secretariat and the country’s schedule to implement the interim PPA, Ghana could serve as the bridge between the African continent and the European Union if the appropriate engagements are made. As we all know, elections are an important part of every democratic society, for a very long time now, Ghana’s election has been transparent, peaceful, free and fair and this government is determined to make sure that the enviable record of the complement is maintained in this years election.”
At the same event, Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said that the digitization of the economy has helped in the fight against corruption.
“So, there is a lot of work that is being done with regards to the witness protection act, special prosecutor act, the right to information act, the companies act which provides the framework for targeting the official ownerships and acting ownerships of the companies, we have increased the allocations of budgetary resources to the institutions that are fighting corruption.”
AfCFTA will make politicians powerless — Ofosu-Dorte
The Executive Chairman of AB & David Africa, a pan-African law firm, David Ofosu-Dorte earlier this month indicated that over the next decade the implementation of the continental free trade agreement will shift power from politicians to trade.
Speaking on Citi TV’s current affairs programme, Point of View, Mr Ofosu-Dorte explained that the continent’s development is currently largely driven by politicians but that will soon be replaced by free trade.
He maintained that over the years, politician-led initiatives have not yielded the best of results for the continent.
“The more you take the control away from politicians the more Africa will develop faster. So, if you look at Africa from a traditional point that we don’t celebrate ideas, yes, but if you do free trade, and people realize that I can upscale and I can sell my goods anywhere and there is a payment platform and there is a way I can export, the innovation and the ideas need not wait for approval from government, people will just do it,” he added.