GHANA and Zimbabwe have signed 10 landmark Memoranda of Understanding further deepening the relations between the two countries.
The MoUs were signed at Peduase in the Eastern Region last Thursday during the State Visit of the President of Zimbabwe, Emerson Mnangagwa.
They are agreed minutes of the inaugural session of the Ghana-Zimbabwe Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation, cooperation in political and diplomatic consultations, and research, training and documentation in foreign services institutes between the two countries.
Others are MoU on cooperation in the field of sports and recreation development, cooperation in health, energy, archives and tourism.
The rest are MoU between ZIM-Trade and the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) and MoU between the Institute of African Knowledge and the Ghana Museum and Monument Board in collaboration in African liberation project.
An additional one between two private firms — Zoomlion Ghana Limited and Geo Pomona Waste Management (Pvt) Ltd — was also signed.
In his remarks after the signing ceremony, President John Dramani Mahama said the agreements reaffirms the decades old relations between the two countries which dates back to pre-colonial days.
“We are therefore encouraged by our renewed resolve to elevate the partnership between our two countries to higher and more strategic levels.”
President Mahama said as host of the African Continental Free Trade Area, Ghana remained committed to promoting economic integration not only with Zimbabwe but with the rest of the continent.
“In this regard, Ghana’s strategic position within ECOWAS and Zimbabwe within SADC presents a unique opportunity to strengthen the linkages between West and Southern Africa,” he noted.
“I look forward to productive and fruitful deliberations that will further strengthen the bonds between our two countries and advance our shared vision for Africa’s development.”
On his part, President Mnangagwa said “the true value of these agreements lies in their swift and effective implementation”.
“I therefore urge our ministers and officials to ensure the speedy operationalisation of all agreed programmes and the conclusion of the requisite agreements in additional areas of cooperation,” President Mnangagwa charged.
The Joint Committee on Cooperation, he emphasised, must remain the central mechanism for the monitoring and implementation of the agreements, as well as increased trade and investments for the tangible benefits for the people.
As part of the visit, President Mnangagwa also visited the Sweden Ghana Medical Center, the Jospong Waste Treatment facility at Adjen Kotoku and the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum where he laid a wreath at the tomb of Ghana’s founding president.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
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