The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has sought the support of Ghana in safeguarding its interest in the Middle East.
On Monday, February 8, 2021, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for African Affairs, Ahmed Kattan, held bilateral talks with Ghana’s Minister-designate for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.
The meeting took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in Accra, Ghana.
The essence of Mr Kattan’s visit was to consolidate Saudi Arabia’s relations with Ghana and to seek Ghana’s continuous support for Saudi Arabia’s interests in the Middle East.
It is significant to note that Saudi Arabia has long coveted Ghana’s friendship and this has been underscored by the Kingdom in various meetings with officials of the Ghana Mission in Riyadh.
The Middle East Region is an extremely volatile part of the world, underpinned by deep-seated historic tensions. The two key protagonists are Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Turkey and Israel are also influential in the power politics of the region.
The existing tensions in the region were exacerbated by the June 2017 Gulf impasse between the Arab Quartet made up of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE on the one hand and the State of Qatar on the other. Tensions however eased in 2020 with the normalization of relations among the countries.
Since Ghana established diplomatic relations with the Kingdom in the 1960s with the opening of the Riyadh Mission in March 1960, very little political and economic activities have taken place between the two countries except for the annual ritual of Hajj undertaken by Ghanaian pilgrims.
Ghana’s economic engagement with the Kingdom is by way of the Saudi Fund.
However, not much has been realized from the Saudi Fund despite its preparedness to cooperate with Ghana.
In her remarks during the meeting, Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said Saudi Arabia will always remain a friend of Ghana and a valuable partner in the Middle East and the Gulf region as Ghana places premium on its diplomatic relations with the Kingdom.
According to her, Ghana has been keen in exploring avenues to expand the existing cordial relations with the Kingdom including a visit by the President of the Republic to the Kingdom.
She expressed the hope that the two countries can work together to consolidate the relations for the mutual benefit of their people.
The Minister-designate thanked the Kingdom for the courtesies extended to Vice President Dr. Bawumia and your good self when you both visited the Kingdom in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
She further expressed gratitude for the Kingdom’s long-standing facilitation of Ghanaian pilgrims in the annual Hajj, congratulating it also for successfully steering the presidency of the G20 at the time when the world was grappling with the emergence of the COVID-19 and express hope that the Kingdom will continue to be a voice for developing countries at the G20, particularly on matters such as equitable access to vaccines and debts forgiveness.
Meanwhile, she urged Mr Kattan to encourage Saudi companies to take advantage of the AfCFTA to invest in Ghana and use Ghana as the springboard to export to other parts of the continent.
She thanked the Saudi Government for the funds which have been obtained from the Saudi Fund for Development for the expansion of the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital and the approval of USD$20m for the procurement of equipment to upgrade the status of that hospital.
She solicited the assistance of Mr. Kattan for the reactivation of financial facility from the Saudi Fund for the Korle-Bu Accident Centre project.
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