President John Dramani Mahama and his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron, yesterday held wide-ranging bilateral talks covering health cooperation, trade, agriculture, infrastructure, artificial intelligence and regional security at the Élysée Palace in Paris.
The high-level engagement followed the successful co-chairing of the One Health Summit in Lyon, where both leaders had earlier presided over deliberations on global health security.
Significance
President Macron thanked President Mahama for accepting to co-chair the One Health Summit in Lyon, and described the event as a significant milestone for global health cooperation.
He announced that Ghana had been selected as the first beneficiary of France’s newly introduced National Health Compact, a platform designed to strengthen health systems across partner nations.
He also commended President Mahama’s leadership of the Accra Reset Initiative, describing it as “very important”, while noting the prominent references made to it during the Lyon summit.
Gratitude
President Mahama said he was honoured to have been invited to co-chair the summit and acknowledged its significance to the World Health Organisation.
He expressed gratitude for Ghana’s selection as the first recipient of the health compact, and noted that the Accra Reset had already outlined concrete deliverables that would be reviewed going forward, a sign, he said, of the initiative’s growing global momentum.
Turning to bilateral matters, President Mahama highlighted the strong foundation of Ghana-France relations, anchored in shared commitment to democracy, the rules-based international order, and peace and security.
Cooperation
The two leaders discussed cooperation in agriculture to ensure food security and promote year-round farming, the development of artificial intelligence, support for maternal health, and the long-anticipated Accra-Kumasi expressway.
President Mahama also expressed appreciation for the continued support of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) in Ghana’s infrastructure and development programmes over the years.
On the economy, President Mahama announced that Ghana’s economy had bounced back strongly, pointing to very positive indicators.
He thanked France and China for their support during Ghana’s debt restructuring process, describing it as critical to stabilising the country’s finances.
The two leaders concluded their discussions on regional and global security, examining the impact of conflicts and instability on countries far removed from the immediate zones of action, a concern increasingly resonant for West African nations navigating a shifting geopolitical landscape.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh