Dendias: Greece wants to be a part of Ghana’s future

Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias met with his Ghanaian counterpart Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey at capital city Accra on Thursday.

The two ministers, who last met at the 76th UN General Assembly in September, discussed strengthening the two countries’ political and economic relations while paying emphasis to investments.

They also talked about their commitment to the Freedom of Navigation (FON) principle and to International Law of the Sea, as well as about Ghana’s relations with the EU.

It is noted that both Ghana and Gabon, the next stop of Dendias’ visit to sub-Saharan Africa, will become non-permanent members of the UN Security Council as of January 1, 2022 for two years.

According to diplomatic sources, Greece is strengthening ties with Security Council member countries ahead of its candidacy as member (2025-26) of the Council, whose influence is key on issues of direct interest to Greece such as in Libya and Syria.

Greece has already invested 100 million euros in Ghana, “this is very important,” Dendias noted in relation to Greek business activity there, while addressing his counterpart earlier in the day.

The Greek minister also mentioned that he visited a Greek school in Tema earlier that he said is being supported by donations of the Greeks who have invested in Ghana.

“What we should do is to try to put economic flesh to the bone of our existing relationship,” the Greek minister noted. “We have the same principles.”

“We are seafaring nations, both of us, and there is a lot that we can do together. And the purpose of my visit is really to pave the way for the businessmen to invest more and do more,” Dendias underlined.

He added that the two countries can also focus on collaborations in maritime security, energy and tourism.

“Greece wants to be a part of Ghana’s future,” Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on Thursday in an interview on Ghanaian television.

He noted that his was the first visit by a Greek minister to Ghana, which he described as a “young African country that is doing the best it can and is on the way toward a very bright future.”

“We would like to work together, to take our common friendship to a new level,” Dendias added.

The Foreign Minister also delivered 150,000 COVID-19 vaccines as an expression of solidarity toward Ghana and its people, noting that Greece and Ghana were nautical nations.

“This common denominator can create a very bright future for us, we can work together in every way, in energy, through the Greek maritime fleet, which is the largest in the world, we can truly work together on how to bring knowhow in renewable energy sources to Ghana, on saving energy and on tourism, where we have one of the best industries in the world,” Dendias said.

There were many ways in which the two countries could work together but this needed both human and economic contact to “flesh out” the very good and friendly relations of the two countries, he said.