The agreement is part of Germany’s G-20 Compact with Africa programme for sustainable economic development.

Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, and Germany’s Deputy Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Friedrich Kitschelt, signed the agreement under the auspices of President Akufo-Addo and the visiting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Flagstaff House in Accra.

The partnership with Ghana is geared towards improving conditions for sustainable private sector investment, investment in infrastructure, economic participation, and employment in the country.

Addressing the press after the signing ceremony, President Akufo-Addo warmly welcomed Mr. Steinmeier to Ghana, optimistic that his visit to the country would “renew the friendship and advance the dialogue that has been between our two countries.”

With Ghana being the third largest trading partner of Germany in Sub-Saharan Africa, the President said the relations between the two nations had been excellent, with many important features of commonality between both states.

President Akufo-Addo said the German economy had been distinguished by the prevalence and importance of small and medium scale enterprises, a rich experience Ghana could exploit to scale up and strengthen the sector to revamp its economy.

The President noted further Germany’s leading role in the training of its workforce had made that country’s workforce one of the most efficient in the world “and it shows in the continuous performance and resilience of the German economy.”

“This is another area of great concern for us – the whole area of skills development and training for our workforce and for our young people,” he said.

The President told the German leader that his government’s main priority was the enhancement of education, which would ultimately scale up the capacity and competence of Ghana’s workforce.

Germany, he noted, was an important world leader in the area of renewable energy, an area that held extreme importance and concern for Ghana, and which the country hopes to find “a meaningful intercourse with Germany.”

President Akufo-Addo stated further that there were many other areas of international concern where Ghana and Germany “stood shoulder to shoulder in our view of issues about terrorism.”

“And above all, we have taken a great deal of inspiration from the commitment of Germany’s leaders in supporting the options that Ghanaians have taken to assume greater responsibility for their economic development.”

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Source: GNA

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He will be accompanied by the Federal Minister for Economy and Energy, Mrs. Brigitte Zypries, the Deputy Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Friedrich Kitschelt, the State Minister at the German Foreign Office, Maria Böhmer, as well as a substantial business delegation and guests from civil society.

The state visit to Ghana will be the first trip to an African country by President Steinmeier, since he took office in February 2017.

President Akufo-Addo, will receive President Steinmeier on December 12th, 2017.

President Steinmeier’s visit will focus on the youth in Ghana, on scientific and academic cooperation and migration, on vocational training as well as on investment and business promotion.

German support for G20 Compact with Africa / New Investment Partnership

Under the auspices of the two presidents, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the German Deputy Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Friedrich Kitschelt, will sign the bilateral “Investment and Reform Partnership”, bringing up to 100 million Euros of German government support to promote private investment into renewable energy in Ghana, as well as vocational training.

The investment partnership supports Germany’s commitments under the G20 Compact with Africa, which was signed in Berlin in June 2017.

He will be accompanied by 17 representatives of German companies realizing Germany’s commitment under the G20 Compact with Africa to bring more German investment to Ghana.

Reinforcing research cooperation between Germany and Africa

Under the auspices of the President and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, the Pro Vice-Chancelor for Research, Innovation and Development, Francis Dodoo, and the Director of the Arnold-Bergstraesser Institute of the University of Freiburg, Germany, Andreas Mehler, will sign a cooperation agreement for the opening of a Merian International Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Ghana.

The Center has a thematic focus on sustainable governance, and will be supported by the German Ministry for Education and Research.

The Center will be the first of its kind in Africa.

Stronger partnership between Europe and Africa

President Steinmeier will conduct a discussion at the University of Ghana, Legon, with academics and students.

Vocational Training

He will visit the West-African Transport Academy (WATA) in Tema, which is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the German investors Scania, Bosch, and ZF on the one side, and German Development Cooperation on the other side.

The Academy offers state of the art training facilities for young Ghanaians.

Support for Start-Up companies in Ghana

President Steinmeier will also meet with young Ghanaian entrepreneurs (start-ups), who are currently being supported by Germany with the aim of developing their business and linking them with international businesses.

Ghanaian-German Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration

The German president will attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Ghanaian-German Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration in Accra.

As of December, the Center offers advice on technical and vocational education and training opportunities in Ghana, supports returnees from Europe in their reintegration, provides information on the risks of irregular migration, and on the possibilities for legal migration to Europe.

It will make use of the extensive network of German cooperation in Ghana, especially in the areas of TVET and agriculture.

Security situation in the region

President Steinmeier will have encounters with experts and staff of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping training Center (KAIPTC), and get first-hand information on the security situation in West Africa.

Germany is one of the main supporters of KAIPTC.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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