Accra, Ghana//-India and Ghana have reaffirmed their commitment to deepening their unique economic ties, cultural, and multilateral-level partnerships for mutual benefit.
The India High Commissioner to Ghana, Shri Manish Gupta, made the pledge at an occasion to celebrate India-Ghana Partnership Day on Friday, 15 March 2024.
According to him, “It is heartening to see the partnership with Ghana is going to the next level where the government-to-government ties are ably supported by people-to-people ties,”
He added that Ghana shares a lot of cordial relations with India built on many years of mutual respect and cooperation.
Mr Gupta therefore pledged that the Indian government is committed to further deepening its partnership with Ghana in all sectors towards the adoption of cost-effective technologies, sharing best practices and expertise through capacity building and training programmes for the benefit of the people.
He was quick to add that the two countries deliberate on various sectors of mutual interest to achieve economic growth and development.
India ranks among Ghana’s top trading partners and investors with its annual bilateral trade exceeding $3 billion.
With a democratic government, rule of law, and stable political environment, India’s business and industries promise opportunities contributing to Ghana’s economic development job creation, and capacity building in sectors such as agriculture, technology, and pharmaceuticals”.
Economic ties
Trade between Ghana and India is recovering after dropping in 2020 due to the pandemic. The volumes of trade between the two countries which stood at $4.5 billion before the pandemic, recorded about 15% gains from $2.3 billion to settle at a current value of $2.7 billion and it is expected to grow above the pre-pandemic figure.
Ghana’s major exports to India include gold, cashew, cocoa, nuts, and timber products. India’s major exports to Ghana include pharmaceuticals, agricultural machinery, transport vehicles, electrical equipment, plastics, iron & steel, beverages & spirits, cereals, and made-up textiles.
India is also among the top five trading partners of Ghana and is the largest destination for Ghanaian exports. 80% of total imports from Ghana to India consists of gold, according to trade data.
India has committed more than a half billion dollars to Ghana for the past decades.
Credit lines and projects
The Asian country’s credit lines include a $24.98 million credit facility to the Ghanaian government for the construction of an assembling plant to boost the agriculture sector.
The credit facility would be used for building the structure for the assembling plant, supply of knockdowns and fabrication of agriculture implements including tractors, backhoe loaders, power tillers, power reapers, power pumps, and paddy threshers.
The project when completed is to support smallholder farmers to boost agricultural productivity, diversify the manufacturing base of the country and create jobs for the people.
Other key ongoing projects supported by the Indian government are- the construction of a 97.620km railway line from Tema to Mpakadan by Messrs Afcons Infrastructure Limited of India.
The $447.173 million project has been completed and it is waiting to be commissioned by the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The implementation of the $30.0 million Rehabilitation and Up-Grading of Potable Water Project in Yendi in the Northern Region, the Strengthening of Agricultural Mechanisation Service Centres (AMSECs) Project of $150.0 million, and the recently completed Foreign Service Training Institute Project (US$5.0 million), which was handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (MFARI) in March 2022.
The Indian diplomat was quick to add that his home country would give special focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as India’s new priority to speed up the transformation of the two developing countries.
Skills and capacity building
The occasion offered an opportunity for the alumni of various Indian Institutes to renew their association with India.
The High Commissioner said they attached great importance to the event since it gives them also a chance to meet their Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) India Africa Forum Summit initiatives (IAFS) Indian Universities through Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) beneficiaries personally who have been to India and to know about their experiences and feedback.
Ghanaian beneficiaries of the ITEC scheme are putting the knowledge they acquired into good use for the benefit of the country.
The Indian government through the ITEC programme had provided technical assistance worth $3 billion to developing countries, including Ghana.
Since the inception of the scheme in 1964, it has benefited thousands of students and professionals from Africa, while India spends over $100 million annually on ITEC activities.
Ghana has been one of the major participating countries under the ITEC scheme.
Ghana’s Chief Director at the Ministry of National Security, Sena Siaw Boateng said the existing healthy relationship between India and Ghana had been attained because of the shared values, culture, and pursuit to work together towards addressing the common challenges of the two countries.
She added that the increase in the number of slots for Ghanaians to train in India was positive and showed the effort India was making to build the capacity of the Ghanaian trainees, aimed to boost the Ghanaian economy.
The event was attended by government officials, members of the diplomatic community in Ghana, heads of public and private institutions, and traditional leaders, among others.
India-Ghana bilateral relations
India’s relations with Ghana have been long and historic and enjoy exemplary bilateral relationships.
The strong foundation of India-Ghana friendship was laid by India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and Ghana’s first President Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
This friendship and bilateral cooperation between the two countries have grown steadily and have stood the test of time, he stressed.
The Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT and the Golden Jubilee House are shining examples of India-Ghana bilateral cooperation.