President Mahama calls for closer cooperation with Canada

President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday called for partnership between the governments of Ghana and Canada in the areas of railway rehabilitation, improvement in the aviation system and oil and gas production.

The rehabilitation and improvement of the sectors, he said, would help to decongest the roads and provide a faster alternative means of hauling goods within the country and beyond, while the aviation system would also bring alternative transport and improvements in Ghana’s transport system.

President Mahama made the call when Canadian International Trade Minister Ed Fast led a delegation to visit him at the Osu Castle in Accra.

The delegation, which is made up of 29 companies, is in the country to partner government and the private sector in the areas of mining, education, health, power generation, capacity building and other infrastructural development.

President Mahama said the congestion on major roads in cities had compelled government to rehabilitate railways to make travel by train cheaper and more vibrant.

He said the country was also lagging in health, education and other infrastructural development, and a partnership with Canada would help to accelerate development in those areas.

President Mahama said partnership would be shifted from government to government, to public-private and private-private partnerships to help secure Ghana’s middle income status of the country in the coming years.

“The economic growth is about 29 percent per annum and the partnership to generate power and other development projects would spur the country to achieve its development goals,” he said.

Mr Fast said that apart from mining, education and health, the Canadian companies were also interested in developing small and micro hydro dam projects that would serve as back-ups for existing major electricity projects in the country.

He said the Canadian companies were interested in investing in Ghana on account of her political stability, economic growth and because the country is a good destination for trade. He appealed to government to support the companies achieve their investment goals.