President John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday received five new envoys accredited to Ghana from Italy, Cuba, Liberia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran.
The envoys were at the Presidency to present their letters of credence and letters recalling their predecessors to President Mahama.
They include: Madam Laura Ranalli, Ambassador of Italy to Ghana and Mr Julio Enrique Pujol Torres, Ambassador of Cuba to Ghana.
The rest are Mrs Musu Jatu Ruhle, Ambassador of Liberia to Ghana, Dr Abdulla Muraid Sulaiman Mohammed Al Mandoos, Ambassador of UAE to Ghana, and Mr Ali Ghomshi, Ambassador of Iran to Ghana.
Speaking to the envoys separately at the Credentials Hall at the Presidency in Accra, the President reiterated the long standing relations that existed between Ghana and their respective countries.
During his meeting with Madam Laura Ranalli, Ambassador of Italy to Ghana, President Mahama said the credential ceremony was his first since his assumption of Office on January 7, and that the Italian envoy was the first Ambassador he was receiving, which was a good sign on the relation between Ghana and Italy.
“Our relations have been historical, and Ghanaians have a very high regard for our cooperation with Italy,” President Mahama said.
On energy, President Mahama said, he had held a meeting in Accra with Mr Claudio Descalzi, the Chief Executive Officer of Eni, an Italian multinational energy company.
“We had very good discussions. There were some issues that they had during the previous administration. Happily, we’ve been able to resolve them, and so he indicated that they were willing to go ahead with their investment in Ghana,” the President said.
“We have had a good partnership with them, and currently almost 60 per cent of our total gas supply for power generation is coming from ENI, and they have the possibility of ramping that up with the other compartments that we gave them.”
He said they were in a good place, and that they appreciate the cooperation that they were having with ENI in that regard.
He said there were more prospects for partnership between the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and ENI and any other organizations that were interested in the upstream oil and gas industry, and so that they would work together on that.
President Mahama recounted a number of engineering projects, which were executed by Italian companies in Ghana, such as the construction of the Akosombo and Kpone Hydro-electric Dams in the Eastern Region.
He said engineering and technology were areas that Ghana and Italy could continue to exchange knowledge and technical know-how.
He said, he was particularly happy about the initiative in agriculture because that was one of the main focuses of this administration.
He said one of the first things any responsible government must do was to be able to provide food security for its people.
He said Ghana’s inflation went up to 54 per cent, and that it was now dropping gradually at 22 per cent, which the Government was hoping that it would come down further.
The President said the Government of Ghana would soon launch the Labour Export Policy to export skilled labour to other countries.
On her part, Madam Ranalli congratulated President Mahama on his decisive victory in the December 7 general election.
She said the strengthening of the cooperation between the Ghana Government and Eni, had been welcomed in Italy with great interest, since they open up new opportunities for investment and development.
“With regard to agriculture, Bonifiche Ferraresi, Italy’s largest company in the sector has committed to investing in Ghana through the establishment of model farms,” she said.
“These farms are designed to promote regenerative agriculture, develop sustainable, scalable, and innovative agroindustrial value chains, enhance food security, and foster the education of human capital to generate lasting employment.”
