Ghana supporting Guyana in gas-to-energy, local content and oil fund legislation – President Ali
Following successful bilateral engagements, His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has announced that the West African nation of Ghana will soon lend technical support to Guyana in the areas of local content, the sovereign wealth fund (SWF) or oil money legislation, as well as the highly-anticipated gas-to-energy development.
During a press conference on Friday, President Ali shared that the first phase of the technical team, which should be arriving early in the coming month, will comprise of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and experts in the oil and gas field, and will immediately begin working with Guyanese counterparts.
“It is also expected that the Vice President of Ghana will be visiting Guyana this year, and it is anticipated that the President of Ghana will participate in the oil and gas conference set for 2022,” President Ali said to the media.
In addition, the Head of State indicated that a team of investors will be visiting Guyana to establish partnerships with local counterparts in various investment opportunities. The investors from Ghana’s private sector, Dr. Ali said, have various areas of interests including agriculture, mining, tourism, and food production.
“We’re hoping that the local private sector can actively participate and create the environment for this partnership to prosper.”
Earlier this month, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo led a delegation to Ghana and met with President Nana Akufo-Addo and Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
In September, during the opening of the general debate of the 76th United Nations General Assembly, Presidents Ali and Akufo-Addo met and discussed several matters of mutual interests, including oil and gas, climate change and the environment, capacity building and training.
Both engagements were aimed at fostering enhanced cooperation between the two oil-producing states.
Although Guyana officially established diplomatic relations with Ghana on May 14, 1979, Guyana’s Independence movement was greatly influenced by Pan-Africanist and the first President of Ghana, Mr. Kwame Nkrumah. During the celebration of Ghana’s Independence in March 1957, Guyana’s political leaders, Dr. Cheddi Jagan and Mr. Forbes Burnham travelled to Ghana to attend the festivities. Throughout their years of leadership, both Presidents Jagan and Burnham maintained good relations with Ghana.
Guyana has long shared common interests with those of the Republic of Ghana. In 1970, Guyana joined Ghana and several other developing nations as a member state of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). NAM was officially established in 1961 by President Nkrumah, and the presidents of Yugoslavia, India, Indonesia, and Egypt to govern relations between developing and developed nations.
Upon the opening of the 1972, NAM conference, which was held in Guyana for the first time, President Arthur Chung, unveiled the Non-Aligned Monument, to honour the founding fathers of NAM. The monument, located on the Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown features a bust of each founding father of NAM, each of which was sculpted in the home country of each of the founding fathers.
The movement, now considered the largest political forum after the United Nations, boasts a membership of 120 States with an additional 17 observing countries and 10 observing intentional organisations.