Akufo-Addo leaves for Europe; returns 2 days before Independence Day

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo left Ghana on Friday for a 12-day working visit to Scotland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Belgium.

On Saturday, February 22, President Akufo-Addo will deliver the keynote address at the St Andrews Africa Summit, a student-led initiative that promotes a versatile discussion about Africa, African and African Affairs, on the theme ‘Leadership, Development and Entrepreneurship’.

The President will then travel to Oslo, Norway, to pay an official visit, at the invitation of Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

As co-Chair of the Eminent Group of Advocates of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with the Norwegian Prime Minister, he will also join other SDG Advocates at a High-Level meeting on food security and climate change.

He will then be in London, on Friday, February 27, for a speaking engagement at Chatham House, home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, on the theme ‘Financing for Sustainable Development in Africa’.

At the invitation of Her Excellency Simonetta Sommaruga, President Akufo-Addo will pay a State Visit to Switzerland from 28th to 29th February.

The visit is a reciprocal one paid to Ghana, in July 2017, by the 91st President of the Swiss Confederation, Her Excellency Doris Leuthard, who was the first European leader to visit Ghana in the Akufo-Addo presidency.

Again, at the invitation of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group, President Akufo-Addo will travel to Brussels, Belgium, on 3rd March to address the 2nd ECR-Africa Summit on 4th March on “Ghana’s economy and thriving democracy”, and also meet with the leadership of the European Union to discuss issues pertaining to Ghana-EU relations.

The President was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, Minister for Education Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, and officials of the Presidency and Foreign Ministry.

The President will return to Ghana on Wednesday, 4th March, 2020, and in his absence, the Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, shall, in accordance with Article 60(8) of the Constitution, act in his stead.