President Akufo-Addo has disclosed that Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, has pledged to support government’s Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda.
According to him, this has become necessary because of the urgency and demands of reviving the economy and alleviating the plight of Ghanaians. He revealed that he made it known to the Vice President that Ghana is endowed with abundant natural resources which government is seeking to use as the basis to transform its economy from the current reliance on raw materials into a value-adding one.
President Akufo-Addo explained that the vision is to take Ghana out of its dependency on aid to a self-reliant economy beyond aid.
“I’m pleased to state that Vice President Harris pledged America’s support for this transformative agenda. It is this transformation that will give us the best opportunity to derive maximum benefit from our abundant natural resources and enable us create a firmer foundation for a meaningful long-term and commercial relations with the United States of America.”
President Akufo-Addo
Speaking at a joint press conference with Kamala Harris, President Akufo-Addo stated that the purpose of the visit by the Vice President to Ghana is to re-affirm the ties and cooperation and the bonds of friendship that the two countries attach to their relationship with each other. He indicated that the visit equally reinforces both countries commitment to engage each other further to this end.
The President highlighted that the two countries share similar aspirations and values as they are both committed to democratic governance, respect for human rights, the rule of law and the principles of democratic accountability.
“We are member states of the United Nations with a mutual attachment to its values and principles, we have collaborated effectively on several matters over the years and the major outcome of this afternoon’s meeting, was the re-affirmation of our commitment to collaborate further and provide mutual support at both multilateral and bilateral levels.”
President Akufo-Addo
Reinforcing stronger ties between Ghana and US
Highlighting further on the discussion between both parties, President Akufo-Addo stated that he spoke at length with the US Vice President on how to boost their political and economic relations, cultural and people to people exchanges as well as cooperation at a multilateral level. He underscored that their deliberations also centered on driving investments opportunities, both domestic and foreign, into the two countries and the need to enhance cooperation and partnership in their development efforts.
“Towards the realization of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, we touched on the need to promote a better world and address global issues relating to the seventeen goals. I also used the occasion in my talks with the Vice President to express the appreciation of the Ghanaian people and the government, to the government and people of the United States for the support we have received since the establishment the diplomatic relations between our two countries.”
President Akufo-Addo
Meanwhile, US VP, Kamala Harris has revealed that the United States government will intervene on Ghana’s behalf with the Paris Club as the country seeks debt forgiveness as part of the International Monetary Fund’s balance of payment support.
According to Mrs Harris, the US will help Ghana with all the support it needs to ensure that it scales through its current economic crisis.
“We welcome Ghana’s commitment to reform its economy for sustainable and inclusive growth. We support Ghana’s engagement with the IMF, and we will continue to push all bilateral creditors to provide meaningful debt reduction for countries that need it. It is critical to do so to build long-term economic growth and prosperity and to increase US investments. Our partnership is already strong, and I believe that today we have strengthened it.”
Kamala Harris
Currently, the US has also announced that its Department of Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) will deploy a full-time resident advisor to assist the Ministry of Finance to develop and execute medium-to-long-term reforms needed to improve debt sustainability and support a competitive, dynamic government debt market.
