Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey (front row: 5th right), Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah (front row: middle) together with government officials from Ghana and Namibia
Namibia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, says the COVID-19 pandemic has proven that Africa must continue to earnestly work together and lessen its dependence on the outside world.
She said this can be achieved through value addition to the continent’s primary commodities, thereby creating value chains for economic growth.
It is in this direction that she has advocated the need to maximise intra-African trade and boost economic recovery and sustainable development through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“Instruments such as those related to trade and economic cooperation, as well as development and promotion of small and medium enterprises, are vehicles that we must effectively use to improve our bilateral trade. We now have no reason not to increase bilateral trade,” she said.
“The Namibian beef and other meat products, salt, dates, grapes and blue berries, among others, should come to Ghana. Similarly, the Ghanaian she butter and cocoa powder should be on the shelves of Namibia’s wholesale and retail outlets. Our Chambers of Commerce and Industry must create platforms for the private sector to engage,” she added.
Madam Nandi-Ndaitwah made the call during the 4th Session of the Ghana-Namibia Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC) yesterday in Accra.
Cooperation
On a further strengthened bilateral cooperation between Ghana and Namibia, she said there is a need to foster cooperation in the areas of “agriculture, which is essential for food security, self-sufficiency and agri-business, fisheries and marine resources, as Namibia and Ghana are both coastal countries, to benefit from the opportunities granted by the blue economy, cooperation in maritime affairs, tourism in order to exchange best practices and share experiences in order to improve our tourism statistics and effect real change in the lives of our two peoples.”
She also mentioned “Youth and Sport as the youth is the biggest population in both and countries, and in Africa our first priority must be to continue empowering them, through education, SME development, arts and culture as well as sports and cooperation in oil and gas, especially now when Namibia has developed a green hydrogen power/hydroelectricity power plan that would provide sufficient clean energy not only for our people but our neighbours and Africa at large.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, said it is imperative that Ghana and Namibia give greater attention to the bilateral and intra-Africa trade in order to take advantage of the huge market of 1.2 billion people that the AfCFTA brings in order to accelerate Africa’s economic integration.
“It is crucial that the private sector of our two countries position themselves to benefit from this market. To that end, there is the need for African businesses to develop value added supply chains based on processing of the abundant raw materials our continent is endowed with, in conformity with the provisions of the AfCFTA Agreement,” she said.
According to her, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war had reminded the continent the need to boost intra-Africa trade as well as boost agricultural production capacities and patronise, as much as possible, African-made products.
In the area of air transport, Ms Botchwey urged the authorities of Air Namibia to restore their operations in Ghana.
“This is vital to boost person-to-person contact, and an important factor in our trade and economic cooperation. In addition, Air Namibia could consider incorporating the huge market of travelers in Nigeria in its Windhoek-Accra-Windhoek route,” she said.
At the event, seven memoranda of understanding were signed. They are Cooporation Agreement on Tourism, Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation, Maritime Cooperation, Cooperaton in the field of Social Protection, Gender Mainstreeming and Women Empowement, Cooperation in the field of Youth and Sport Development, Cooperation in the Field of Agriculture and Cooperation in Oil & Gas
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