Qatar leader praises Akufo-Addo

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has praised President Akufo-Addo for his excellent leadership over the last 22 months, stating that “you are governing Ghana well.”

According to Sheikh Al Thani, the fundamentals of the Ghanaian economy, coupled with the prevailing social indicators, point to a “good example” worthy of emulation by others on the continent.

The Emir of Qatar made this known on Tuesday, 13th November, 2018, when President Akufo-Addo paid a day’s reciprocal official visit to Qatar at the invitation of the Emir.

Sheikh Al Thani, in his remarks, applauded the conducive investment and business climate being established in Ghana, and was hopeful of forging a strong relationship with Ghana, adding that “there are lots of opportunities that we can exploit together.”

Already, he indicated that the State of Qatar was readying the Qatar Investment Authority, the State-owned holding company that specializes in domestic and foreign investment, to explore opportunities in the areas of energy, tourism, agriculture, security, education, and infrastructural development in Ghana.

With the state of insecurity in the Sahel, in West Africa, being of major concern to the world, the Emir stated that military assistance from Qatar, to help fight the scourge of terrorism in countries like Burkina Faso and Mali, was in the offing, and assured Ghana of Qatar’s support in helping to equip Ghana’s security apparatus to deal with the menace.

On his part, President Akufo-Addo thanked Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for the invitation to visit Qatar.

The President noted that Ghana, as a sovereign country, would not be dissuaded by anyone from pursuing a relationship with Qatar, adding that “we are determined to have a good relationship with Qatar, we value the relationship, and we will continue with it.”

As alluded to by the Emir of Qatar, President Akufo-Addo stressed that the preoccupation of his government, since assuming office in January 2017, has been to build a strong economy which will give investors, domestic and foreign, the confidence to invest in Ghana, and thereby deliver improved standards of living for Ghanaians.

He said as a result his government is embarking on an aggressive public-private partnership programme to attract investment in the development of the country’s infrastructure.

President Akufo-Addo was hopeful that with solid participation from the Qatari government and its private sector, Ghana can develop a modern railway network with strong production centre linkages that would connect the country to Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and to Togo.

The President also reiterated the presence of several other projects in the areas of roads, water, housing, transport, industry, manufacturing, agriculture, petroleum and gas, and the exploitation of Ghana’s mineral wealth which are being structured to attract private sector financing.

He was, thus, hopeful that the respective visits to Ghana and Qatar by himself and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani would mark the beginning of a fruitful and productive relationship between the two countries, which would inure to the benefits of their peoples.