President John Mahama has said that countries must follow international trade rules and not impose unilateral tariffs, warning that such actions undermine global prosperity.
Speaking after receiving the new European Union (EU) Ambassador to Ghana, Rune Skinnebach, who presented his credentials at the Jubilee House, the President cited Ghana’s recent experience with tariffs on exports to the United States.
“We live in an increasingly changing world, and the world trade rules-based system is being upended by unilateral tariffs by various countries on others,” President Mahama said.
“Ghana, for instance, had the AGOA, which was zero-rated for exports into the United States. Today, we’ve been slapped with 15%. But it’s not only us; many other countries have suffered a worse fate than us. But we do believe that with regards to trade and tariffs, we must play by the rules. And it affects world prosperity when countries just decide unilaterally to impose tariffs on each other.”
The President also updated the envoy on Ghana’s economic situation.
“Ghana is coming out of an economic crisis. We defaulted on our debts, and we went through a quite difficult debt restructuring exercise. Happily, we are coming back. The economy is stabilising. Inflation is coming down.
“The currency is appreciating in value and being relatively stable. And we’re maintaining fiscal discipline that ensures that the economy is well managed. Aside from that, we’re also resetting our governance and introducing more accountability.”
The new European Union Ambassador to Ghana, Rune Skinnebach, assured that the EU will work closely with Ghana in all areas of partnership, including security and defence.
“I also see a very strong development in the partnership between the Republic of Ghana and the EU. I see our privileged position as a donor to the government, but also as a trading partner, as an investor.
“I see these very important partnerships in security and defence, and most recently also in forest legislation enforcement, which all constitute platforms to further deepen our relationship,” Mr Skinnebach said.
He also highlighted Ghana’s firm stance on international issues.
“It hasn’t gone unnoticed that Ghana has been steadfast on the territorial integrity of Ukraine towards Russian aggression. That is very important to us in Europe.”
Later, President Mahama received the new UK High Commissioner to Ghana, Christian Rogg. The President noted that Ghana is working with ECOWAS and international partners to respond to violent extremism in the Sahel.
“We’ve developed a process of rapprochement with the AES countries, even though they have determined to break away from the regional sub-body. I think that there must be continuous engagement with them, because the threat they face is a common threat to our whole sub-region, not to them alone.
“The situation in those countries is quite grave, and we believe that Ghana, working with ECOWAS and the international community, must see how we can resolve the issue of violent extremism,” President Mahama said.
“We rely on cooperation with the UK. Already we have support in terms of training, technical expertise, and intelligence sharing, and we hope that will continue.”
The UK High Commissioner assured that security will remain central to Britain’s partnership with Ghana.
“The second priority is very much on security. The world really has changed… conflicts we never imagined are happening again in Europe, and what is happening in the region here is also very different,” Mr Rogg said.
“Over time, our partnership on security has evolved. That has to do with countering terrorism, with training, with intelligence, with equipment. But it also goes beyond that to threats we both face, such as illicit financial flows and the drugs trade. Security, just as growth, are quite broad and encompassing priorities we will work with your government on.”
