{"id":9111,"date":"2014-03-27T16:43:43","date_gmt":"2014-03-27T16:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=9111"},"modified":"2014-03-27T16:47:59","modified_gmt":"2014-03-27T16:47:59","slug":"mahama-meets-yayi-boni-ahead-of-ecowas-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/03\/mahama-meets-yayi-boni-ahead-of-ecowas-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Mahama meets Yayi Boni ahead of ECOWAS summit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"President<\/a>
President John Mahama in conversation with President Thomas Boni Yayi of Benin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President John Mahama on Thursday played host to the President of Benin, Yayi Boni where they discussed topical issues bordering on the supply of power to Benin.<\/p>\n

President Yayi Boni who was on his way to an ECOWAS meeting in Yamousoukro in Ivory Coast, stopped over for the discussions.<\/p>\n

According to President Mahama, Ghana has an agreement with Togo in relation to energy issues adding that Ghana \u201chas a commitment to supply some amount of energy to the Republic of Benin.\u201d<\/p>\n

The President acknowledged that due to ongoing challenges being experienced in Ghana\u2019s energy sector, \u201cthe levels that we should supply to our partners; Benin and Togo have lately been quite low.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moments after the closed door meeting, President Mahama highlighted some of the key areas they will focus on during the discussions at the ECOWAS meeting.<\/p>\n

On his part, President Yayi Boni expressed the hope that the meeting in Ivory Coast with ECOWAS leaders will yield positive results for the sub-region.<\/p>\n

Speaking through an interpreter, the President of Benin said: \u201cOn the eve of the ECOWAS summit tomorrow and also going by the vision of the founding fathers of ECOWAS, it was quite relevant that they meet today for some discussions on some topical issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also mentioned that his visit to Ghana is vital due to the \u201cEurope Africa Summit that will be held on the 2nd to the 3rd of April in Brussels.\u201d<\/p>\n

ECOWAS heads of state are meeting in Ivory Coast to deliberate the signing of the EPA while the technical committee is expected to present a report to the heads of state for the conclusion on the matter.<\/p>\n

The EPA allows countries to export goods to the EU without tariffs or maximum quotas, under World Trade Organization rules.<\/p>\n

The European Parliament has granted the African countries an extension until October 2014 to ratify their interim EPAs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
\nFollow @osamidan<\/a>
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