President John Dramani Mahama has returned to Ghana from a state visit to the United Kingdom and Belarus, bringing with him a £101 million agreement to establish the first commercial-scale ship repair yard in Takoradi, and a supply deal for over 1,800 pieces of agricultural equipment from Belarus.
The President addressed the nation on Tuesday upon his arrival, giving an account of the engagements and agreements concluded during the trip.
In the United Kingdom, President Mahama attended the Ghana Investment Summit, which he said was oversubscribed due to Ghana’s improved economic performance and the growing interest of European investors in opportunities in the country.
On the sidelines of the summit, Ghana and the UK signed a Growth Partnership Agreement, which the President described as a shift in the bilateral relationship from one of dependency to one of trade and investment.
Under that agreement, the two countries signed the £101 million ship repair yard project in Takoradi, which will include a floating dock and is designed to integrate the entire western corridor for marine activity.
They also signed agreements on commercial afforestation in the Oti Region, collaboration on artificial intelligence training under Ghana’s “AI for Good” strategy, and a programme to train clinical healthcare engineers to maintain biomedical equipment in the country’s health facilities.
President Mahama said the Ghana Stock Exchange’s strong performance last year earned him the honour of ringing the opening bell at the London Stock Exchange.
He noted that the exchange had been one of Africa’s best performers after South Africa and had resumed listings after a prolonged pause, with First Atlantic Bank, Zen Petroleum and Kasapreko preparing to list.
He also visited Ghanaian-owned enterprises operating in London, including a waakye restaurant and a family bakery supplying Ghanaian tea bread to outlets across the city.
In Belarus, the President said the government signed three agreements covering agricultural cooperation, a joint economic commission and trade.
A key output was a memorandum of understanding for the supply of tractors, combine harvesters, ploughs, harrows, boom sprayers and other modern farm equipment for Ghana’s farmer service centres.
He said the partnership extended beyond machinery, with Belarusian agronomists and farm management personnel set to work alongside Ghanaian farmers to raise productivity.
President Mahama said Ghana and Belarus also signed a visa waiver agreement and that a Belarusian delegation would visit Ghana to explore opportunities in the mining sector, where Belarus produces drills, trucks and other heavy equipment.
The President held a bilateral meeting with President Alexander Lukashenko, describing the encounter as warm and expressing the view that Belarus was increasingly open to deepening ties with Africa.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
