President Akufo-Addo set to meet French counterpart soon

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would before this year ends, meet his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to discuss opportunities for strengthening the development cooperation and friendly ties in the interest of their peoples.

The French Ambassador to Ghana, Francois Pujolas, who told the Ghana News Agency in an interview, on Thursday, said the maiden meeting would cover a wide range of issues, including trade and socio-cultural affairs.

Ambassador Pujolas explained that the meeting could take place in either Ghana or France.

“What is very interesting about this high-level meeting is that it would be in the 60th year of Ghana – France relations, and Ghana’s Golden Jubilee Celebration; both nations have new presidents with Ghana’s assuming office in January, while France’s President took office in May.”

Mr Pujolas said the bilateral relations would be geared towards better facing the challenges of the day and preparing for a better future; which means the sustainable future of both countries; and for Europe and Africa.

“That is basically what we want to achieve through cooperation in peace and stability, economic development and cultural diversity,” he stated.

According to information on the official site of the French Embassy in Accra, the value of French foreign direct investments in Ghana in 2014 was €107M for a stock amounting to €851M.

There are more than 60 French companies in Ghana in a large range of sectors such as agriculture, banking, insurance, construction, logistics, oil and gas, hotel and restaurants.

Forty-six of them have been established as subsidiaries, while 15 are on their own.

They include Société Générale, Total, Technip, Pernod Ricard, Alstom, Bolloré, CMA-CGM, Air Liquide, and L’Oréal. Companies like Golden Exotics (La Compagnie Fruitière) or GREL, who are major employers, providing about 20,000 direct and indirect jobs.

The amount of bilateral trade was 1 billion € in 2015 with Ghana mainly supplying oil to France, and also some agricultural products and food.

France exports mainly metallurgical products, refined petroleum products, food products and engineering equipment to Ghana.