Ghana to foster more bilateral relations with South Africa-Vice President

Vice President John Dramani Mahama, on Thursday expressed government’s desire to foster bilateral relations with South Africa in the generation and distribution of both renewable and non-renewable energy in the coming years.

He said, “South Africa contributes 60 percent of Ghana’s Foreign Direct Investment in the mining sector and has a lot of experience in hydro-power generation and distribution, which Ghana needs to learn from through our collaborations.”

Vice President Mahama said this when he hosted visiting South Africa Deputy President Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe to dinner at the Banquet Hall in Accra.

Deputy President Motlanthe, who is on a three-day official visit to Ghana, would among other things call on President John Atta Mills and lay a wreath at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum.

He would also hold meetings with the ministries of Energy, Water Resources, Works and Housing, Environment, Science and Technology; meet South African business executives and tour the Akosombo Dam.

Vice President Mahama called for public/private partnership to enhance their development goals in the years to come.

He said apart from hydro-electricity generation, Ghana would also learn from the success story of South Africa’s tourism sector, where there could be opportunities to harness the tourist potentials of the Mole National Park in the Northern Region.

The Vice President, called on the leadership of ECOWAS member countries, to work around the clock to avoid coup d’états and general political instability that had re-surfaced in Mali and Guinea-Bissau.

Deputy President Motlanthe, said, Ghana remained the citadel where the seed of freedom was planted and germinated to spread to other countries in the continent and should therefore remain steadfast in the face of the December polls.

He paid tribute to late President Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah for leading the struggle for freedom in Africa.

Deputy President Motlanthe called for further collaborations that would help address the developmental challenges facing the two countries.**