President John Dramani Mahama and French President Emmanuel Macron held bilateral talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris, covering a wide range of issues including health, agriculture, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, regional security and Ghana’s economic recovery.
The Wednesday meeting, which formed part of President Mahama’s one-day official visit to France, opened on a warm note as President Macron thanked his Ghanaian counterpart for travelling to Lyon to co-chair the One Health Summit, describing the Accra Reset Initiative championed by President Mahama as very important and acknowledging the references made to it during the summit.
In a significant announcement, President Macron confirmed that Ghana has been selected as the first beneficiary of France’s National Health Platform — a health compact that President Mahama welcomed with gratitude.
For his part, President Mahama said he was honoured to have been invited to co-chair the One Health Summit and acknowledged the event’s importance to the World Health Organisation.
He expressed satisfaction that the Accra Reset Initiative had produced concrete deliverables that could be reviewed and built upon.
The two leaders also discussed cooperation in agriculture to ensure food security and promote year-round farming, as well as AI development, support for maternal health, and the construction of the Accra-Kumasi expressway.
The talks further touched on building on years of French development support through the Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
President Mahama used the occasion to thank both France and China for their support with Ghana’s debt restructuring, and announced that the Ghanaian economy has bounced back strongly, pointing to very positive economic indicators.
The two presidents also noted the strong bilateral relationship between Ghana and France, underpinned by shared commitments to democracy, the rules-based international order, and peace and security.
Regional and global security issues also featured in the discussions.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
