French President Emmanuel Macron has returned home after an official visit to Ghana.
While in the country, he held bilateral discussions with President Akufo-Addo.
President Macron was seen off at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.
He is the first French President to visit Ghana since the latter attained independence.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said Ghana is ready to renew and deepen the ties of cooperation and friendship with France for the progress and prosperity of their respective countries and peoples.
“We want our relations with France to be characterised by an increase in trade and investment cooperation, not aid,” he stressed.
This, according to the president, “is the way to develop healthy relations between our two countries, and put Ghana at the high end of the value chain in the global market place, and create jobs for the teeming masses of Ghanaians, particularly the youth. Our vision is to build a free, prosperous, independent country – a Ghana Beyond Aid.”
The president noted that Ghana, under his leadership, has decided to turn her back on the old economy, which is dependent on the production and export of raw materials, stressing, “We want to build a value-added, industrialised economy with a modernised agriculture, which is neither victim nor pawn of the world economic order.”
Recounting the bond of friendship that exists between the two countries, President Akufo-Addo indicated that Ghana and France have strong ties in trade, investments, civil and security co-operation, amongst others, with statistics, indicating that French investments in Ghana totalled €1.5 billion in 2015, making Ghana the seventh biggest destination of French investments in sub-Sahara Africa.
President Akufo-Addo assured President Macron that Ghana stands shoulder-to-shoulder with France in the promotion of human rights on the African continent, the rejection of terrorism as a legitimate means of resolving political issues and “in attempting to develop our economies to provide opportunities for the citizens to fulfil their aspirations, especially the youth.”
He also expressed the appreciation of the Ghanaian people to “France’s courageous commitment and participation in the fight against terrorism in Mali and the rest of the Sahel, which has brought you (President Macron) to the region three times within this short period of six months of your stay in office.”
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