Ghana Showing Strong Signs of Economic Recovery – German Prez

Ghana over the last 11 months according to statistical data available to Germany is not a strong path to economic recovery and development, visiting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has observed.

Addressing a joint press conference by the two Presidents held at the foyer of the Flagstaff House after holding bilateral talks at the ceremonial room, President Steinmeier said the policies of the current government is clearly beginning to impact positively on economic landscape of the country.

He pledged his country’s continued support inPO the area of education, small scale enterprise development and renewable energy to ensure that the current economic restoration ongoing in Ghana is sustained.

On his part, President Akufo-Addo said Ghana is looking forward to a much more deeper relationship with Germany.

He welcomed the pledge by the German President for increased Assistant to Ghana in the renewable energy sector.

Signing of Bilateral reform Partnership
A bilateral reform partnership was signed between Germany and Ghana in the presence of both Heads of State after the two leaders addressed the joint Press Conference.

The reform partnership will focus on channeling resources for the development of the renewable energy sector of Ghana. The Finance Minister of Ghana Ken Ofori Atta signed on behalf of Ghana and the Secretary of State at Ministry Of Economic Cooperation of Germany, Friedrich Kitschelt signed on behalf of Germany.

The German President
Frank-Walter Steinmeier was born on January 5, 1956. The German politician has been serving as President of Germany since March 19, 2017.

He was previously the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, and as Deputy to the Chancellor of Germany from 2007 to 2009.

He was chairman-in-office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2016. President Steinmeier is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), holds a doctorate in law and was formerly a career civil servant.

He was a close aide of Gerhard Schröder when Schröder was Prime Minister of Lower Saxony during most of the 1990s, and served as Schröder’s chief of staff from 1996. When Schröder became Chancellor of Germany in 1998, Steinmeier was appointed Under-Secretary of State in the German Chancellery with the responsibility for the intelligence services. From 1999 to 2005 he served as Chief of Staff of the Chancellery.

Following the 2005 federal election, Steinmeier became Foreign Minister in the first grand coalition government of Angela Merkel, and from 2007 he additionally held the office of vice chancellor. In 2008, he briefly served as acting chairman of his party. He was the SPD’s candidate for chancellor in the 2009 federal election, but his party lost the election and he left the federal cabinet to become leader of the opposition. Following the 2013 federal election he again became Minister for Foreign Affairs in Merkel’s second grand coalition.

In November 2016 he was announced as the candidate of the governing coalition consisting of his own party and the CDU/CSU for President of Germany, and thus became the presumptive elect as the coalition held a large majority in the Federal Convention; he left the cabinet on 27 January 2017 and was elected as President by the Federal Convention on 12 February 2017, winning 74 percent of the vote.

Other Engagements

The three day State visit of the German President will also see him engaging in several other official duties. Among them are a Visit to the Scania Training Workshop and the Tema Free Zones Enclave. He will also be at the University of Ghana to Open the Merian International Centre for Advanced Studies and attend a Subsequent discussion hosted by the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) with experts and students of University of Ghana. President Steinmeier will also visit the Ridge Hospital at North Ridge and also attend an official State dinner hosted by President Akufo-Addo at Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) to bring the second day of his State visit to an end.

On the third day of the visit, Wednesday December 13, the Commandant of Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Air Vice Marshall Griffiths Santrofi Evans, will host the German President at the centre for an Expert-Level discussion on the topic; Security and Stability in West Africa, he will also visit the Artists Alliance Gallery La Road, in Accra and attend a Round Table with Young Ghanaian Entrepreneurs iSpace Ghana at Labone and finally Open the Migration Information Centre of German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, at the Independence Ave.