Ghana, Cote D'Ivoire to inaugurate ITLOS body

The President of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, His Excellency Alassane Ouattara, will from Monday, October 16, 2017, begin a 2-day Official Visit to Ghana.

The purpose of the visit is to deepen further the already strong relations that exist between the two countries, as well as explore other areas of co-operation to their mutual benefit.

This visit is a reciprocal one to the visit made to Cote d’Ivoire by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in May this year, at the start of his tour of the countries of West Africa.

The two Presidents and their respective teams are expected to hold bilateral discussions at the Flagstaff House on Monday, October 16, 2017, after which the two leaders will address a joint press conference. President Akufo-Addo will, later that evening, host his Ivorian counterpart to an official dinner.

Prior to President Ouattara’s departure, on Tuesday, October 17, 2017, the two countries will sign a bilateral agreement, and inaugurate a joint commission for the implementation of the recent judgement passed by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on the delimitation of the maritime boundaries of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.

May 5 Visit to Cote d’Ivoire

It will be recalled that earlier this year, from May 5, 2017 to May 7, 2017, President Akufo-Addo paid a 3-day visit to Cote d’Ivoire, at the commencement of his tour of the countries of West Africa.

During that visit, President Akufo-Addo revealed that the close co-operation between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire will be facilitated by a new initiative dubbed “An Agreement For a Strategic Partnership”, that will be signed by the two countries.

This agreement, according to President Akufo-Addo, will bind Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire “in even closer intimacy and go beyond the bounds of the concept of the Permanent Joint Commission, which is the conventional tool for co-operation.”

President Akufo-Addo noted one of the areas of focus of this Agreement will be in the cocoa industry.

President Akufo-Addo was also decorated with the Highest National Award of Cote d’Ivoire, La Grande Croix dans l’ordre National Ivorien, at a State Dinner held in his honour by the President Alassane Ouattara.