France has described Ghana’s decision to seek support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a sign of commitment to deal with the current economic imbalances the country is facing.
The Deputy General Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development (MAEDI) of France, Mr Remy Rioux, said even though discussions on the IMF were ongoing, France was firmly behind Ghana and hoped for a fruitful outcome from the discussions.
“France will support the government on this and hopes to be able to, at the end of the process and the conclusion of a mutual agreement, resume its programme of severing loans,” he said.
Mr Rioux was speaking at the second session of political dialogue between Ghana and France intended to discuss key bilateral issues on strengthening trade relations between the two countries.
The maiden political dialogue between the two countries was held in Paris in October, last year.
The dialogue falls within the framework of the new drive in bilateral relationship between the two countries, following President John Dramani Mahama’s visit to France in May, 2013, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms. Hannah Tetteh’s meeting with her French counterpart, Mr Laurent Fabius, on October 10 this year in Paris.
The discussions focused on the major regional and African issues, notably the situation in Mali, the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.
Global issues related to peacekeeping, the fight against climate change and la Francophone were also raised.
The second session
The second session, therefore, was to provide an opportunity to review the prospects for strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries, particularly in the economic field and in terms of supporting Ghana’s development.
Some of the issues to be discussed would border on economic relations such as economic and financial environment, investment perspectives, and the economic partnership agreement (EPA) between the European Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
On the issue of co-operation, the two countries will discuss the activities of the Agence Francaise de Developpement, French language co-operation, university co-operation, decentralisation and public sector forum, and co-operation between the two ministries of foreign affairs.
They will also discuss regional issues centred on Ghana’s ECOWAS Presidency, its priorities and prospects, the Ebola Virus, maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, and the Forum international de Darkar on Peace and Security in Africa.
For international issues, there will be discussions on climate change negotiations in the perspective of the 21st session of Conference of the Parties of the UN framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21,Paris,2015), the UN post 2015 agenda for development, and the fight against terrorism from the Middle East and the Sahel region.
Mr Rioux said the last meeting between the two countries was a success and confirmed their common interest to enforce political co-operation.
“Our political dialogue at all levels is excellent and particularly fruitful with Ghana, the dynamic major country in West Africa,” he said.
He said in Africa and in particular the West African region, Ghana embodied the model of democracy and stability, adding that the last Presidential elections demonstrated how firmly democracy had established in the country.
Mr Rioux lauded the creation of the Francophone-Ghanaian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, describing it as a major step to diversifying and reinforcing economic and commercial co-operation between the two countries.
Working together
For his part, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Leslie Kojo Christian, said Ghana was ready to continue and intensify the consultative process between the two countries aimed at harmonising views on bilateral and global issues of concern.
“We are happy to note that the mode of consultation between the two countries has worked well to our mutual advantage and that currently, Ghana and France are enjoying excellent bilateral relations as well as co-operation on a wide range of significant issues.”
