…committed to creating direct link between Accra and Georgetown

PRESIDENT of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo wrapped up his State visit to Guyana with a commitment to creating a direct link between Accra and Georgetown.
The Ghanaian President made this commitment during a meeting with the Ghanaian Diaspora and African organisations at the Guyana Marriott Hotel on Tuesday evening.
“There are other areas of cooperation that we want to undertake– in education and transportation, a direct link between Accra and Georgetown,” President Akufo-Addo said. Ahead of that engagement, Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson, and Ghana’s Minister of Aviation, Joseph Kofi Adda, held talks about international air transport between the two nations.

Late last month, the Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Lt. Col. (Ret’d) Egbert Field and the High Commissioner of Ghana, Professor Abena Pokua Adompim Busia, verbally agreed to explore the creation of sustainable air linkages.
In November 2018, Guyana and Ghana signed an Air Services Agreement at the Third African Diaspora Meeting held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. Under this Agreement, airlines operating from Guyana or Ghana will be able to fly to any destination within both countries as well as provide any number of services between both countries and beyond to any third country, with no restrictions on capacity, frequency, aircraft type and routing. Further, in December 2018, Guyana also signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement with Ghana for the exchange of knowledge and technical expertise in the area of civil aviation.

President Akufo-Addo and his delegation departed Guyana early Wednesday morning. He was given a military send-off by President David Granger.

During his two-day State visit to Guyana, he was conferred with the Order of Excellence, Guyana’s highest national award, by President David Granger during a luncheon held in his honour.

During a bilateral meeting shortly before the luncheon on Tuesday, Guyana and Ghana agreed, by way of a Memorandum of Understanding, to increase cooperation, collaboration and trade. The agreement also signals the end of the visa requirement to travel between the two countries.

With Ghana experiencing high levels of deforestation, the country has signalled an interest in importing Guyana’s timber. It also has a major interest in Guyana’s Rum industry. To learn more, President Akufo-Addo and his delegation visited Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) and Banks DIH and participated in a photo exhibition held at the Umana Yana.
His first visit, however, was to the Non-Aligned Monument and the 1763 Monument where he laid floral wreaths.