The Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, will deliver a public lecture on the topic, “A Vision for a New Commonwealth in a Fast-evolving World” on Friday, February 2. 

The lecture is being organised as part of activities to mark the 5th Anniversary of the Council on Foreign Relations in Ghana (CFR-Gh) and will take place at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC).

CFR-Gh is an independent and non-partisan think tank, with Ambassador DK Osei, one of Ghana’s most astute diplomats, as its President. 

Madam Botchwey who is Ghana’s top diplomat, is a lawyer, communications professional and politician. She has served as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration since January 2017.

She is also a member of the National Security Council.

Ms. Botchwey’s extensive experience in diplomacy dates back to the second term of President John Kufuor when she served as Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration from 2006 to 2009. 

She had previously served as Deputy Minister for Information and Trade and Industry.

As Foreign Minister, Ms. Botchwey also chaired the Council of Ministers of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for two successive terms from 2020 to 2022. 

As a politician, she served as the spokesperson on Foreign Affairs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) between 2009 and 2013, while the Party was in opposition.

During the same period, she held the position of Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and subsequently, the Appointments, Defence and Interior Committees of Parliament. 

A four-term legislator, Hon. Botchwey represented the most populous constituency in the country, Weija, in the Greater Accra Region for two terms (2004-2012) until it was demarcated.

She subsequently represented the Anyaa/Sowutuom constituency for two terms (from 2012-2020). 

In the immediate past Parliament (2017 – 2021), the Foreign Minister sat on the Communications as well as the Gender and Children Committees of Parliament.

She was also a member of the ECOWAS Parliament from 2013 – 2017 and served as Vice-Chair on the NEPAD & African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Committees. 

CFR-Gh has hosted many global personalities as part of its prestigious distinguished lecturer series, including Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed, and Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces of Ecuador when serving as President of the UN General Assembly.