Addis Ababa, 16 january 2014 (WIC) - Ethiopian Foreign Minister Dr. Tedros Adhanom and Ghana's Foreign Minister Mme. Hanna Tetteh signed a General Cooperation Agreement on Monday (January 13) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Accra. Dr. Tedros and his delegation arrived in Ghana on Sunday for a working visit to strengthen Ethio-Ghana relations.
The General Cooperation Agreement covers a wide range of political, economic and social issues including foreign policy, trade, investment, agriculture, science and technology. In a welcoming address, Ghana's Foreign Minister noted that Ethiopia and Ghana had pioneered continental unity in post-colonial Africa. She said the common positions taken by the two countries in the international arena had contributed to peace, security and conflict resolution, and added that it was the belief for Africa. Mme.
Tetteh also underlined the need to focus on areas of mutual interest and to share best practices. In this regard, she mentioned the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange which she said was a continental success story that Ghana wished to learn from. Dr. Tedros thanked Mme. Tetteh for the invitation to visit Ghana and for the hospitality he and his delegation had received. He recalled the fruitful discussions thy had had on the sidelines of the African Union Summit meeting in Addis Ababa during the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the OAU/AU and how those discussions had now led to the General Cooperation Agreement, and he underlined the importance of taking appropriate measures to implement the agreement.
Dr. Tedros pointed to the need for further action to take the agreement to a higher level and said the agreement should serve as a basis to form a Joint Ministerial Council and facilitate the engagement of each other's institutions. He stressed that he and his Ministry was ready to facilitate an experience sharing visit from Ghana to the look at Commodity Exchange operations. Dr. Tedros also emphasized that relations between the two countries was driven by their common desire to promote peace, security, stability and development in Africa.
On Monday, Dr. Tedros also visited the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and the burial ground of Former President John Ata Mills. He and his delegation were also driven to the Akosombo Hydro Electric plant, inaugurated in 1966 to generate 500 mw. Since then it has been upgraded on several occasions and now generates 1020mw. On Monday evening, Foreign Minister Hanna Tetteh hosted a dinner in honor of Foreign Minister Dr. Tedros and the Ethiopian delegation.