50 years of Ghana-EU partnership

Fifty years ago, the European Union (EU) established formal relations with Ghana.

At the time, very few people could have predicted how deeply connected the relationship would become in 50 years time.

Today, as the EU Delegation in Ghana marks 50 years of partnership with Ghana, the Ambassador of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Rune Skinnebach, describes the relationship that started largely as aid-centric in the 1970s as now a political strategic partnership, a reflection of the new power dynamics in the world.

“The EU spent five decades moving from a purely donor-recipient dynamic to a genuine partnership of equals.

Now EU has evolved from being a development partner to becoming a diplomatic partner.

We used to be doing development cooperation, to be promoting our values and principles.

Now EU and Ghana are pursuing shared interests on the global scene.

We are acting in a coordinated way and together, based on the same principles of rules-based multilateralism, on human rights and promoting democracy,” he added.

Mr Skinnebach said these in an exclusive interview he granted the Daily Graphic ahead of 50 years anniversary celebration of EU’s partnership with Ghana, which would be launched in May this year.

In the company of the Press and Information Officer, Abdul-Kudus Husein, he took this reporter through the 50 years journey of EU’s partnership with Ghana – the situation when the partnership began, the achievements so far;  how he expects the future partnership to be and the anniversary activities, which would include anniversary launch, film festival,  high-profile visits from EU and dialogue between Ghana and EU.

Indeed, for Mr Skinnebach, this 50 years anniversary was an opportunity to measure not just what they have given but what they have built together with Ghana.

50 years deliverables

The ambassador said the EU had proudly stood by Ghana’s side throughout the 50 years, contributing to Ghana’s democracy, education  and employment where possible.

On education, he said the EU and its member states had increased their funding on education and TVET in Ghana.

Describing the EU-Ghana Pact for Skills, co-funded with Germany, as their largest programme on job creation, Mr Skinnebach said in the agricultural sector it had created more than 100,000 jobs, mostly in Ghana’s northern regions.

In the green and circular economy sector, he said they had created more than 50,000 jobs in the Ashanti and Western regions while for each year, approximately 1000 students were flown to the best universities in Europe with the help of scholarships offered by the EU and its member states.
 university scholarships and short-cycle technical and vocational training that led directly to employment.

“The Team Europe Initiatives on Green transition and Digital Transformation are designed specifically with youth employment in mind,” he added.

On mobility, he said they were expanding Erasmus+ opportunities for non-academic exchanges and supporting the Ghanaian government’s efforts to create decent work at home. 

Trade

Trade is an important sector in Ghana-EU partnership.

The EU is currently Ghana’s largest investor,  primary donor and top trading partner with over 6.3 billion Euros in total trade in goods as of 2024.

Ghana largely exports raw commodities such as bauxite, gold and cocoa to Europe. On the other hand, Europe exports machinery, pharmaceuticals  and vehicles to Ghana.

Furthermore, with few exceptions,  the EU grants 100 per cent duty-free and quota-free access to imports coming from Ghana.

Europe imports more Ghanaian goods than any entity, invests more long-term and engages in development support with clear checks and accountability. 

However,  Mr Skinnebach said they recognised that the developments not always improved the lives of all Ghanaians, pointing out that large inequalities remained for which reason they were working hard to improve that by prioritising agriculture, education and unemployment.

“That is why we help to move Ghana towards value addition.

The Economic Partnership Agreement is central here.

We are also investing in Ghana’s standards and certification infrastructure so that processed goods can meet EU market requirements.

Trade is not fair until Ghana can export what it makes, not just what it grows,” he emphasised.

Vaccine hub

The EU’s success partnership story with Ghana would be incomplete without the mention of the support it was extending to Ghana regarding its quest to establish itself as a vaccine manufacturing hub in the African continent.

Through the Special Measure on MAV+, which is part of the Global Gateway investment package for Africa, according to the ambassador, the EU has invested over 50 million Euros supporting Ghana’s ambition.

“Helping Ghana produce its own vaccines shifts the country from the end of the supply chain to the beginning,” he explained.

Peace, Security

Describing EU’s role in promoting peace and security in Ghana as fairly new, Mr Skinnebach said the EU’s support had helped to strengthen Ghana’s democratic institutions.

In recent years, he said, the EU launched 30+ security initiatives in Ghana, which added up to over 100 million Euros.

This initiative, he explained, spanned soft security, with dialogue and mediation to hard security with the delivery of military equipment.

On infrastructure, the EU has helped improve road networks in agricultural regions and contributed to universal basic education and immunisation coverage.

Difficult conversation

Responding to the question on a difficult conversation EU needed to have with Ghana as the partnership evolved, Mr Skinnebach said that would be on fiscal governance,  business climate and galamsey.

“We cannot finance Ghana’s development indefinitely if the fiscal space is undermined by inefficiency, or unsustainable borrowing.

It is a difficult conversation as we respect Ghana’s sovereignty but genuine partnership requires honesty about how resources are managed,” he explained.

He said if EU was going to co-invest at scale, then it needed a shared understanding of accountability, adding that galamsey remained one of the most profound societal challenges that Ghana was presently faced with.

Unfortunately, he said the situation was not improving sufficiently, pointing out that they would stand by Ghana to ensure both Europeans and Ghanaians could enjoy healthy products from Ghanaian farmers.

Future relations

Touching on future partnership, he said he wanted conversations on that to be about joint ventures and about Ghanaian companies exporting to Europe under their own brand names.