The President of Benin, Patrice Talon, will be in Ghana today for a day’s state visit.
Patrice Talon will hold a meeting with President Akufo Addo, and the two countries will sign some bilateral agreements.
The two leaders will address a joint press conference after the bilateral meetings, before President Patrice Talon leaves the country.
President Akufo-Addo, in May 2017, visited Benin as part of his working tour to West African countries.
Togo crisis
This meeting comes amid neighboring Togo’s political crisis, though it is unclear if the issue will come up for discussion between the two leaders.
Togo, which is sandwiched between Ghana and Benin, has been witnessing a series of protests by the opposition, with a call for the country to return to the use of the 1992 constitution which imposes limits on presidential terms.
The tensions in the country have slowly begun to have an effect on Ghana with Hundreds of Togolese, mainly women and children, fleeing to Chereponi district in the Northern Region for refuge.
The National Peace Council has already urged ECOWAS to intervene in the ongoing Togo crisis to prevent it from degenerating.
The first year of the New Patriotic Party administration has seen apparently concerted efforts by President Nana Akufo-Addo to deepen ties with fellow West African States, which started with Ghana’s intervention in The Gambia’s political crisis.
President Akufo-Addo’s first few months as President has seen him pay working visits to Sierra Leone, Togo, Liberia, Guiea and Mali among others, whiles also welcoming other Heads of State and dignitaries from ECOWAS countries.
The President has assured of Ghana’s commitment in seeing to the success of the ECOWAS because in his view, if ECOWAS succeeds “it will help us [West Africans] a lot in the economic development of our country.”
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By: Sammi Wiafe/citifmonline.com/Ghana