Ghana, Morocco to intensify economic partnership

• Posted on August 1, 2018
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

The governments of Ghana and Morocco have acknowledged the need to enhance their economic partnership by pursuing ambitious projects for the benefit of their people.

Although the cooperation between the two countries has yielded positive outcomes in the areas of trade, investment, and job creation, the governments believe there is a need to consolidate the gains by fully utilizing all viable opportunities.

Moroccan Ambassador to Ghana, Mohammed Farahat, and Deputy Health Minister, Kingsley Aboagye-Gyedu, gave the commitments of their two governments at the commemoration of Morocco’s National Day and the 19th Anniversary of the Ascension to the Throne of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, in Accra on Monday.

“Regardless of past achievements, time is now for both countries to move a notch to more ambitious levels and consolidate the progress made in recent times,” said Ambassador Farahat as he proposed the toast at the reception.

According to him, “trade between our two countries does not make the most of the full potential offered by our two complementary economies.”

He explained that the two countries urgently needed to promote a bilateral economic partnership based on efforts by Moroccan and Ghanaian private sector players, as well as to facilitate efforts to grow existing businesses and capacities, and explore new opportunities in transportation, trade, tourism, mining, and energy.

Morocco has a growing presence in Ghana’s banking, insurance, aviation, housing and construction and agriculture industries, as well a number of public sector interventions in the areas of health, education, religion and cultural development in Ghana.

Justifying the need for more trade between the two countries, Ambassador Farahat noted that 63 percent of Morocco’s foreign investments are in Africa, meaning that there is a high potential for investment and trade with Ghana.

Being the highest investor in ECOWAS, he said Morocco is in the position to invest and trade more with Ghana.

“The challenges facing our two countries today should encourage us to work closely to enable our relations to serve as a productive example of south-south cooperation,” he said.

He thanked Ghana for supporting Morocco’s readmission for the African Union, as well as its bid to join ECOWAS, and gave the assurance that Morocco would not fail ECOWAS.

Mr. Aboagye-Gyedu, responding to the toast, stressed the need for more projects to enhance the ties between the two countries.

“The volume of trade and level of economic interaction between the two countries, although low, seem to be witnessing a steady progress in recent times,” he said but called for more action on existing joint trade and development initiatives.

He was optimistic that the economic transformation plan launched by the government to drive sustainable economic growth in Ghana, would help to improve trade and economic activities between the two countries.

Mr. Aboagye-Gyedu expressed the government’s appreciation to Morocco for the continuous support in the various sectors of the economy, especially in the education sector where over 515 Ghanaian students have benefited from Morocco scholarships to study in that country.

In addition, he commended Morocco for the lead role the country was playing in the management of migration flow from Africa to Europe, describing Morocco’s acceptance to host the African Migration Observatory, as remarkable.