Equatorial Guinea's President appeals for Ghana's support

New Tafo (E/R), Sep. 10, GNA - President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea has appealed to Ghana to assist his country in agriculture, particularly in mass cocoa production and other areas of concern.

He said although cocoa was brought to Ghana from Equatorial Guinea, Ghana was far ahead of them in production and transformation of the beans into finished produce.

The Equatorial Guinean leader made the appeal when he visited the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) at New Tafo on Thursday as part of his three-day state visit to Ghana.

He said cocoa production was a major income and economic backbone for his country some years ago but the discovery of oil made people left the industry and this had affected production.

President Mbasogo said they had realized that it was important for the country to revitalize the cocoa industry for fear of the oil dwindling in future.

"If we are not careful and we rely solely on the production of oil and the oil wells got exhausted in future, we will come back to square one and it will not augur well for us" he said.

President Mbasogo said looking at how Ghana had depended on cocoa as its major foreign exchange earner over the years; if they had done the same in addition to oil production the country would have been better off than now.

President Mbasogo expressed his happiness for the discovery of oil in Ghana but cautioned that other economic activities such as cocoa and timber production should not be neglected.

He praised Ghana on its democratic credentials and said other African countries were learning from it.

The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, assured the Equatorial Guinean leader that Ghana would do all it could to assist his country to benefit from cocoa production in addition to the oil production.

The Executive Director of CRIG, Mr Franklin Manu-Amoa, said the centre was established first as West Africa Cocoa Research Institute (WACRI) to cater for cocoa production in the West African sub-region until it was changed to its present name after the attainment of independence.