Your Excellency, My Dear Brother, President Mahama

Your Excellency the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana,

Honourable Ministers,

High Commissioners

Captains of industry,

Senior Officials,

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

 

Let me express my heartfelt gratitude to you my Dear brother and friend, Excellency President Mahama for inviting me to undertake this State Visit to a country we love so much.

We are truly humbled by the warmth and friendship that we have been showered with since our arrival.

I am particularly delighted because this is my first State Visit to the Republic of Ghana, a country whose freedom was inspired by that great Pan-Africanist and uncompromising proponent of the decolonisation of Africa, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

We were truly inspired earlier today when we visited the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum.

 

It is also a most welcome coincidence for the last African country to gain freedom to undertake a State Visit to the first African country to do so, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity.

Kwame Nkrumah declared on the 6th of March 1957 when Ghana attained her independence, that Ghana’s independence was meaningless unless it was linked with the total liberation of Africa.

 

In that same speech he declared eloquently a new vision for a free Africa. He stated;

 

“We have awakened. We will not sleep anymore. Today, from now on, there is a new African in the world! That new African is ready to fight his own battles and show that after all, the black man is capable of managing his own affairs.

“We are going to demonstrate to the world, to the other nations, that we are prepared to lay our own foundation. Our own African identity’’.

 

When we meet on occasions like this, especially on this Jubilee year of the Organisation of African Unity/African Union, we are taking forward that vision of building a new African identity and of promoting peace, democracy, progress and prosperity.

 

Your Excellency,

 

In that spirit of promoting progress and prosperity, earlier today we held successful bilateral discussions. We succeeded to build on the achievements gained during the 2011 State Visit to South Africa by our late brother, His Excellency President John Atta Mills in 2011.

I thank you, my Dear Brother, for affording me an opportunity to pay my respects to him at his resting place, earlier today.

I am happy to have fulfilled his wish that I undertake this State Visit.

 

Your Excellency

 

More agreements were signed today on the areas of transport, air services and electricity cooperation. Earlier this month, our Ministers agreed on an action plan and today further committed to ensuring the implementation of these instruments.

On economic relations, we trust that the South Africa-Ghana Business Forum has generated enough enthusiasm amongst our business community.

More than 80 South African companies are involved in various sectors in this country and we welcome this development.

 

There is still room for further growth, to improve both the balance and the volume of trade.

We have to take advantage of the current growth trajectory as Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world in spite of the global economic meltdown.

 

Your Excellency, we are both committed to regional integration including the promotion of free trade zones within the continent, as we know that bilateral cooperation will be greatly enhanced by regional initiatives.

Also important is the AU infrastructure development programme which will unlock economic development.

 

I have the honour to champion the North-South corridor which encompasses road and rail projects.  Once implemented throughout Africa, the infrastructure projects will change the face of the African continent.

Thus the future looks bright. Africa may take longer to achieve the progress and prosperity that Dr Kwame Nkrumah painted in his speech to the founding meeting of the OAU in 1963, but we are determined to get there.

 

Your Excellency,

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

Our two countries are known for commitment to peace. We participate actively in conflict management and resolution; peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction in the continent.

We share the concern about instability in some parts of West Africa and in the Sahel region.  We need to solve these problems ourselves in the main as Africans, promoting African solutions to African problems.

Some, if not most, of these problems facing Africa, are caused by people from outside the African continent.

 

Despite that challenge, our responsibility is to work tirelessly to build a peaceful and prosperous Africa, in order to fulfil the objectives set by the African Union.

We look forward to working with Ghana further on multilateral issues, especially the reform of the United Nations Security Council as well as international financial institutions, to make these representative of the majority, especially Africa.

 

My Dear Brother,

 

Allow me once more to congratulate you on the prestigious Peace Award that is to be bestowed on Ghana by the respected South African conflict resolution organisation, ACCORD (the African Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes).

The award confirms this country’s commitment to democracy, good governance, peace, stability and progress.

We look forward to hosting you next year in South Africa for the wonderful occasion of handing over this award to you.

 

I was very happy to host you in my home in Nkandla in December last year for the Jacob Zuma Education Trust children’s Christmas Party.

Your presence in South Africa is always a wonderful occasion.

My Dear Brother and Friend, thank you again for inviting us to this beautiful country.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

May you please rise and join me in a toast to the good health and prosperity of His Excellency President Mahama, and to the friendship and partnership between the peoples of the Republic of Ghana and the Republic of South Africa.

To friendship, progress and prosperity!!

 

I thank you.