Ghana - China economic cultural week

Relationships that stand the test of time deserve celebration and acknowledgement, one such relationship is that between Ghana and China. In 1960, Ghana became one of the first sub-saharan African countries that established diplomatic ties with China.

This was hugely inspired by the strong friendship between the founders of the new-born republics, President Kwame Nkrumah and Chairman Mao Zedong at the time. The friendship laid a solid cornerstone for the development of bilateral ties.

This relationship has since deepened over the past six decades with various cooperation points exchanged between the two countries and has yielded fruitful achievement especially under the framework of China-Africa Cooperation Forum.

Bilateral trade between Ghana and China has risen from less than $100m in 2000 to $6.7bn in 2017 and $7.25 billion in 2018. Ghana has an estimated 6,500 Ghanaians studying In China, making it African’s number one supplier of International students in China.



Over the years, the two countries have seen leaders paying courtesy calls to each other, most recent amongst many was on 20th June, 2017 when Ghana’s Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia paid an official visit to China at the invitation of China’s Vice President, Li Yuanchao and on 1st September, 2018 H.E Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the republic of Ghana and H.E. Xi Jiping, President of the Republic of China held a bilateral meeting in Beijing, China, where both leaders pledged to deepen cooperation between the two countries and also work together to ensure Ghana-China relations take the lead in Africa.

Similarly, Vice Premier Sun Chunian in mid-November 2019 also visited Ghana as a way to deepen cooperation between the two countries during which she cemented the $2 billion worth of rail, road, and bridge network from China and access of 5% Ghana’s bauxite reserves to China.

The above account stresses the deep account between Ghana and China and the era of cooperation both sides have committed to which will provide impetus for a resilient Ghana-China Community of peace and prosperity in a Covid-19 world.

China has become the central business hub of many global operations and also the backbone of many economies in the world as well as the second-largest economy and leading trading nation. The daily movement of goods and services, investments and especially people between Ghana and China has been severely hit by the pandemic whose remedy still remains in no sight.

As the global economy struggles to gain its feet amidst the pandemic, there is the need for deeper conversation and understanding of the situation and its socioeconomic impact amongst the two nations and how to strategically work out solutions to mitigate its negative impact.

Stakeholders and relevant bodies need to have a common platform to build consciences and work together on short term solutions and lay out strategies to address uncertainties in the medium or long term.

As an entity established and actively operating in both countries and committed to deepening the cooperation especially through people-to-people exchanges, Duapa Africa is mobilizing various stakeholders for a weeklong program to mark this important anniversary at the people-to-people level and also serve as a platform to help address the socioeconomic impact of the novel coronavirus.

The Ghana-China Economic and Cultural week is a special weeklong activity scheduled for 12th – 18th October, 2020 filled with key online and offline activities across Ghana and China under the theme “60 years of great friendship; building back stronger and better a shared Ghana-China future beyond Covid-19”.

The event seeks to shed more light on the impact of Ghana-China relationship on health, education, culture, Arts and tourism, Science and Technology and Innovation and Entrepreneurship sectors and how the relationship can boost these sectors.

The activity will also bring on board thousands of Ghanaian and Chinese people, companies, organizations, universities, Ministries and government agencies.

The week will serve as a platform for exchanges amongst thoughtful speakers like Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ghana; Hon. Barbara Oteng Gyasi, Minister for Tourism Arts and Culture, Ghana; H.E. Mr. Edward Boateng, Ambassador of Ghana to China; Mr. Zhu Jing – Chargé d'affaires, Embassy of China in Ghana; Hon. Anani Okuminyi Demuyakor, former Ghana's Ambassador to China; Professor Liu Haifang, Director, Center for African Studies, Peking University, China; Mr. Yofi Grant, CEO of Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC); Mr. Chai Zhijing, Economic and Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of China in Ghana; Dr. Guo Gang, Director, Investment Promotion Center of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (IPC-CCPIT); Prof. YANG Bin, Vice President & Provost, Co-President China-Africa Leadership Development Institute, Tsinghua University; Prof. Rexford Assasie Oppong, Dean of International Programmes Office, KNUST; Prof. Engida Getachew, Former UNESCO Deputy Director General, Co-President of CALDI, Tsinghua University, China; Hon. Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Deputy Minister of Education, Ghana; Dr. Zou Tongqian, President, China Academy of Culture and Tourism Industry; Ms. Yang Yang, CEO of Zonda Tech Ghana Limited and many other seasoned personalities from various Ghanaian and Chinese government, private sector, universities and organizations.

The week will also see contributing partners like the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, GIPC, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), all from Ghana and Hainan Province Tourism Department, Tsinghua University, D & G Global Communications, Shanghai Global Expertise and Talents Co. Ltd. (SGET), DongSheng International Incubator in Ghana, all from China and many other supporting partners from both countries.

The weeklong event which is aimed at further strengthening the friendship between both countries is designed to touch on health, education, trade and investment, culture and tourism. Participants will benefit from the series of activities that includes health screening, startup competition, job fair, business to business matchmaking, cultural exchanges, networking and many others that will take place across Ghana and China. The weeklong activities is expected to directly reach over 500,000 people through the various online and offline activities.