US Vice President Kamala Harris has pledged to strengthen the country’s economic connections with Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, and other African countries.
Her first visit to Ghana as Vice President of the United States coincides with the country’s economic turmoil.
Ghana has signed a Staff-Level Agreement (SLA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion Extended Credit Facility to help the country’s economic recovery and put it on a sustainable growth path.
On Sunday, Kamala was greeted by Ghana’s Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, amid traditional drumming and dance and cheering from some kids, and stated that her visit aimed to encourage economic growth and food security in Ghana and other African countries.
“On this trip, I intend to do work that’s focused on increasing investment here on the continent and facilitating economic growth and opportunity, specifically in the areas of economic empowerment of women and girls, empowerment of youth entrepreneurship, digital inclusion and support the work that must be done to increase food security,”Harris stated this in a brief address following her arrival at Kotoka International Airport’s Jubilee Lounge.
She stated that she will expand on earlier talks with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to promote peace and security, long-term economic growth, and commercial relations.
She said, “I also look forward to, during this visit, meet with entrepreneurs, students and farmers to witness, first-hand, the extraordinary innovation and creativity that’s occurring on this continent and inspiring the world.”
She stated that the tour to Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia was a further expression of her country’s long and ongoing crucial ties and friendship with Africa.
“We (Ghana) see the visit of Kamala Harris as a very important one obviously because of the times in which we are, where the world is facing a lot of economic challenges,” Mr Jefferson Sackey, Deputy Director of Communication at the Presidency said in an interview with the media.
“She’ll be visiting Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia, and the key focus of this particular visit is to find ways and means of helping each of these countries and find ways of addressing a lot of our economic woes,” Mr Sackey added.
During her three-day visit to Ghana, Kamala will meet with President Akufo-Addo and female entrepreneurs as her country seeks collaborations and investments in entrepreneurship.
After three days in Ghana, she would go to Tanzania for two days before stopping in Zambia for one night as her country strengthens its ties with Africa. The centerpiece of her visit to Ghana will be her speech at Black Star Square on Tuesday, March 28.
Harris also went to a recording studio and the Cape Coast Castle in the Central Region, where enslaved Africans were previously loaded onto ships bound for America.
