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The President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has challenged the Zambian and Norwegian Ambassadors to use their respective offices to build and develop freedom of their people to bring development and enhance the prosperity of the people.

He also charged them to beseech their citizens to build a strong attachment for the democratic values and principles of democratic accountability which the government of Ghana is earnestly pursuing.

President Akufo-Addo made these remarks when Rayford Mbulu and Gunnar Andreas Holm, Ambassadors of Zambia and Norway respectively presented their credentials to him at the Flagstaff House in Accra yesterday.

According to the President, the Norwegian oil industry is a model for countries like Ghana which has begun oil production in commercial quantities.

He said Ghana can derive great benefits from Norway of which will be a value to the growth of its industries and that there is the need for both countries to continue in the spirit of continuously enhancing and developing relationship.

President Nana Akufo-Addo, reiterated government’s priority of building a most business-friendly and people-friendly economy in Africa, which will create jobs and prosperity for all Ghanaians.

This, the President stressed, will be done through the introduction of measures which will empower the private sector.

On Ghana-Zambia relationship, the President pointed out that the two nations have been partners over the years and that the time has come for them to work that relationship to inure to the benefit of their citizens.

Rayford Mbulu, the Zambian Ambassador indicated that Agriculture is another area in which his government has keen interest in learning from Ghana especially in the field of research.

“My government has placed special emphasis on agriculture on the anchor of our economy in the seventh national development plan. Cassava value chain is another area we need to learn from Ghana in terms of value addition,” he said.

Ghana and Zambia, according to Rayford Mbulu have enjoyed very cordial relations for a long time and that as he represents Zambia in Ghana, particular focus will be placed on enhancing trade between the two countries whilst learning from best practices from each other.

On his part, the Norwegian Ambassador, Gunnar Andreas Holm also stressed the fact that private sector facilitation is a key task for the Norwegian Embassy in Ghana adding that there are over 40 Norwegian companies in Ghana that are often in joint ventures with Ghanaian partners.

“Half of them are active in the offshore services activities, others are in agriculture, urban development and energy,” he said, adding that their bilateral relation with Ghana also focus on capacity building in environment and revenue management as part of the program Oil for Development in Ghana.

Gunnar Andreas Holm said revenue management will be enhanced with the planning and establishment of the program ‘Oil for Development in Ghana.’

The two ambassadors pledged to use their offices to the best interest of their citizens and improve on their living standards so as to build prosperous nations.