A high-level delegation from the West African country of Ghana is set to arrive in Guyana Monday evening, as fruit of successful bilateral engagements between the two countries. Deputy Minister of Energy, Hon. Mohammed Amin Adam; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Petroleum Commission, Mr. Egbert Faibille; CEO of the Guyana National Petroleum Company (GNPC) Mr. Kofi Koduah Sarpong and technical staffers are the members of the delegation Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo announced Monday at his press conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).
“We are going to utilise the skills of the people from Ghana to assist us to create the architecture for the management of the industry. We have had a lot of consultants from northern countries and elsewhere, but it is time that we actually go to a country that have had to build institutions from scratch in a relatively short period of time, and I tell you that they have enormous experience at doing so,” the Vice President related.
Just recently, Dr. Jagdeo and a technical team visited Ghana to exchange knowledge, skills and experiences in the prudent preparation and management of the oil and gas sector. During the visit, Dr. Jagdeo met with President of Ghana, Mr. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as well as his counterpart Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
Last week, His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced that Ghana will be lending technical support to Guyana in the areas of local content, the sovereign wealth fund (SWF) or oil money legislation, as well as the highly-anticipated gas-to-energy development.
In addition, the Head of State had indicated that a team of investors will be visiting Guyana to establish partnerships with local counterparts in various investment opportunities. The investors from Ghana’s private sector, Dr. Ali said, have various areas of interests including agriculture, mining, and tourism.
Although Guyana officially established diplomatic relations with Ghana on May 14, 1979, Guyana’s Independence movement was greatly influenced by Pan-Africanist and the first President of Ghana, Mr. Kwame Nkrumah. During the celebration of Ghana’s Independence in March 1957, Guyana’s political leaders, Dr. Cheddi Jagan and Mr. Forbes Burnham travelled to Ghana to attend the festivities. Throughout their years of leadership, both Presidents Jagan and Burnham maintained good relations with Ghana.
Guyana has long shared common interests with those of the Republic of Ghana. In 1970, Guyana joined Ghana and several other developing nations as a member state of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). NAM was officially established in 1961 by President Nkrumah, and the presidents of Yugoslavia, India, Indonesia, and Egypt to govern relations between developing and developed nations.
