UK Minister for Africa to attend Presidential Inauguration on January 7

The UK’s Minister in charge of Africa, conflict issues, climate change and international energy and MP for Boston and Skegness, Mark Simmonds, will be in Ghana for the Presidential inauguration on Monday, January 7, 2013.

This will be the Minister’s second visit to Ghana since he was appointed under-Secretary of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office on September 5, 2012.

This was contained in a press release issued by the British High Commission in Accra and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Friday.

According to the release, Mr. Simmonds will be accompanied to the Presidential inauguration by the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr. Peter Jones.

The release said during his first visit to Ghana in October last year, Mr Simmonds met with the Vice President, His Excellency Amissah-Arthur, Ghana’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Chris Kpodo and other high ranking ministers, political leaders and members of the business community.

“The key theme of the first visit was to improve and promote commercial ties between the UK and Ghana, as part of the wider UK-Ghana bilateral relationship, and to encourage Ghana’s continued progress along its current positive democratic and economic paths,” the release stated.