ZIMBABWE and Ghana have signed a historic general co-operation agreement to pave way for the establishment of a framework to underpin and formalise political and socio-economic relations between the two countries.
President Mnangagwa witnessed the signing of the agreement by Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube and Ghana Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong in Accra yesterday.
The deal was inked on the sidelines of the African Development Bank 30th Annual Meetings which are underway here and also witnessed by Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Ghana Kufa Chinoza and that country’s envoy to Harare, Ambassador Grant Ntrakwa.
Speaking after the signing ceremony, Deputy Minister Sarpong described the event as historic saying despite the two countries having relations that date back more than 60 years, no formal agreements exist to escalate cooperation.
“This is a special day, it is the first time we are trying to formalise relations between Ghana and Zimbabwe,” he said.
“It will make us set up the areas we want to cooperate in. Once you have identified these areas, you can then go deep and define the venture cooperation that are going to happen in these areas.
“We will be looking into agriculture, tourism, aviation and so forth and they will be priority areas for the two countries. When we define these areas, it does not end there, we will need to follow through to make sure that what we have agreed to, we implement and ensure relations move to a higher level.
“Ghana and Zimbabwe we go way back 60 years or more. We should have been at a higher level of cooperation but we are not there and this is a starting point.”
Zimbabwe and Ghana founding Presidents from colonial rule Cdes Robert Mugabe and Kwame Nkrumah were bound by the same pan-Africanist ideology, with the former having married in the latter’s country.
Speaking to the media after the signing ceremony, Ambassador Chinoza said: “I am looking at this agreement as an important starting point. It should escalate to a joint permanent and bi-national cooperation agreement as time goes on, that is what we are aiming for.”
Zimbabwe has been building bridges for cooperation with various countries as part of the Second Republic’s engagement and re-engagement drive.
This follows over two decades of isolation after the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions and pushed for Zimbabwe’s isolation from the international community for embarking on the Fast Track Land Reform programme.
The exercise was meant to address colonial injustices on the land where whites owned the majority of the arable land and ensure indigenous Zimbabweans access to the resource.
Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa returned home yesterday. – The Herald
