Ghana, the world’s second largest cocoa producer, says it is ready to share her experience and expertise in the production of the cash crop with her West African neighbour, Liberia.
President John Dramani Mahama said Ghana had garnered a lot of experience and research into cocoa production, and that he had spoken with President Joseph Boakai of Liberia to see how the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) could partner with Liberia to beef up cocoa production using modern methods as a joint venture between their two countries.
The President made the disclosure during the credential ceremony at the seat of Government in Accra on Thursday to receive letters of credence from Mrs Musu Jatu Ruhle, Ambassador of Liberia to Ghana.
The President said, he was going to send the leadership of COCOBOD soon to discuss with their counterparts in Liberia to see how they could start some joint production of cocoa together.
“We have a Cocoa Research Institute that has been researching into cocoa for many years, and so we’ve got the experts and all that, and I think that collaboration in that area will be mutually beneficial to both Ghana and Liberia,” he stated.
President Mahama said the history of Liberia was well known, and that when they say Ghana was the first to liberate itself from colonial rule, Liberia was never colonised really, and so Liberia had always been an independent nation.
“We’ve shed blood for each other, and that even makes our bond tighter, because we remember during the Liberian civil war, Ghanaian soldiers intervened to bring peace back to Liberia, and several of our soldiers died in Liberia, and that makes us even much closer,” he said.
President Mahama said during the Liberia conflict, many Liberians who left made Ghana their home, and that they lived in Ghana for many years.
He said those who wanted to go back home to Liberia and settle, with the assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there was a successful repatriation.
“We continue to be proud of the relations we have, because we are essentially one and the same people.
We are both members of a sub-region, ECOWAS, and we have to live and work together,” the President said.
Touching on peace and stability in the West African subregion, President Mahama said he had just returned from a visit to the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) countries – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, countries, which had departed from ECOWAS.
“We are facing a very difficult situation with the fight against terrorism, and sometimes we feel abandoned that we’re not being as supportive as we should, and so, we need to find a way to see how we and them can work together to fight terrorism, because it’s like a cancer.
If we don’t fight it together, it will eventually spread to other parts of the Sahel region.”
The President expressed the hope that when the Lagos-Abidjan corridor highway begins, they would consider an extension of it from Abidjan all the way to Dakar to have a common highway that makes it possible for them to actualise the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He also proposed the establishment of a ferry route from Monrovia to Lagos, Nigeria to facilitate the movement of goods and people in the subregion.
Mrs Musu Jatu Ruhle, Ambassador of Liberia to Ghana, on her part, congratulated President Mahama on his decisive victory in Ghana’s December 7, 2024 general election, and further commended Ghanaians for conducting a very successful election.
She extended warm regards from the Liberian President to President Mahama, and that he looked forward to working very closely with him and his government. —GNA
