Accra, Ghana//-The Moroccan Ambassador to Ghana, Her Excellency, Imane Ouadil has commended the President, Executives and members of the Ghana Morocco Old students Association(GHAMOSA) for using their knowledge and expertise to promote and strengthen the relationship between Ghana and Morocco.
Speaking at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Association in Accra on 11th November 2022, she said the old students are one of the important investments of the Moroccan government in Ghana and an investment in the future for the two countries and for the African continent.
She noted that the 10th anniversary of the Ghana Morocco old Students Association celebration which falls on November coincides with the celebration of two important dates for “us Moroccans with a few days ago the 6th of November that celebrates the Green March and pays tribute to the many who devoted their lives to liberate our Sahara. I am happy to celebrate all the three events with you all tonight”.
She commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the King of Morocco, King Mohammed the VI for working together to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
She also commended Ambassador Kwabena Anan former Ghana Ambassador to Morocco and Ambassador Tourougui, Former Morocco Ambassador to Ghana for their unflinching service to strengthening the relationship between the two countries.
According to her, there has been an increase in student mobility from African countries because of the good cooperation agreements.
“Currently, Morocco hosts more than 18,000 students from 47 African countries, enrolled in different Moroccan higher education public institutions such as the faculties of medicine and pharmacy, dentistry, science and technology , engineering sciences , commerce and management technology and translation”, she stated.
Ambassador Ouadil noted that the influx of foreign students has been in the order of 4, 000 new students each year where Africans represent 63% of all entrants with the assumption of 95% as scholarship holders of the Moroccan government.
“I therefore want to commend the tremendous work done by the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation. you all know AMCI and its Director General, Ambassador Mohammed Methqal , who is working to broaden the fields of cooperation between Morocco and its sister African countries towards increasing the number of beneficiaries of international cooperation programmes in number and type .
Thanks to these efforts we have managed since 2019 to educate an additional 20 scholarships for Ghanaian students for vocational training”, she noted.
“To underscore Morocco’s commitment to Africa and its youth ,I quote King Mohamed VI ‘S speech from 29th African Union Summit in 2017 when Morocco re-joined its institutional African Family .
His Majesty said “the future of Africa depends on its youth; Africa’s young population underlines the urgency of orienting the demographic dividend towards the emergence of the continent. Africa, therefore, has an unexpected opportunity to benefit from a young, educated, and abundant workforce to fuel its economic growth”.
Indeed, Africa cannot be seen as a mere pool of opportunities. Africa needs to create and seize its own opportunities and generate its own wealth. I commend you, beneficiaries of Morocco government’s scholarship for stepping out of your comfort zone and moving to a new different country for years.
While I hope most of your experience was enriching and exciting. I imagine there were also challenging days that made you nostalgic for home, for the nice Ghanaian dishes, yet you persevered. And when you returned to Ghana, you applied your experience in your respective fields to give back to your communities to make a difference” she said.
“I want to announce that we are currently processing the admission files of 97 Ghanaian candidates that I hope will in a few years come back to contribute to the development of Ghana and to swell your ranks “, she added.
The event bought together high-level dignitaries like Stephen Yakubu, Upper West Regional Minister, Nii Kotey Amon II, Asere Dzaasetse of the Ga State, Hon Aliu Mahama, Member of Parliament for Yendi, representative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador Kwabena Anan among others, Guineas Ambassador to Ghana.
In his presentation, President of the Ghana Morocco Old Students Association, Peter Panyin Anamang described the Ghana Morocco Old Students Association as a global coalition of young Ghanaian professionals trained in the Kingdom of Morocco and now integrated in various sectors of the Ghanaian economy and around the world.
He said over the last decade, the Association has undertaken a number of impactful activities which include educational conferences, business exhibition and networking forums, sports and networking festivals and many others. These activities he said were to further strengthen the already existing bond between Ghana and Morocco.
He commended the King of Morocco, His Majesty King Mohammed VI and Former President John Agyekum Kufuor, who revived the Ghana – Morocco relations and paved way for Ghanaians to further their education in Morocco.
“I would like to use this opportunity to thank His Excellency Ambassador Kobina Annan, Former Ghana Ambassador to Morocco and Mrs. Ekua Annan. They have shown great commitment and provided guidance, encouragement, and support through every stage of the formation of this Association. On this special day we say thank you!
We would also like to say special thanks to Ambassador Tourougui, former Morocco Ambassador to Ghana, their deputies, and staff of the Embassy for the partnership, trust, respect and making the Embassy our home. A very special thanks to CIMAF GHANA and OCP Ghana for the partnership”.
The Association’s 10 Year Anniversary was launched under the theme ‘’BUILDING TOGETHER THE AFRICA WE WANT, OUR SACRED LEGACY’’.
Our Mission was to explore pathways for engaging the African youth to contribute to building the New Africa but also getting them prepared to address the pressing challenges confronting the continent and its leaders.
How can we get the African youth to unite and mobilize around charting a better and prosperous future? This has been our principal goal. So far, I am excited to say that we have received recommendations that will help provide a clear roadmap for beginning to build the Africa We Want.
“The Africa we want” must not remain only as a slogan. Our forefathers and forebears struggled to lay the foundation for building the beautiful Africa we want. While they may have failed in their quest, we do have the opportunity to learn from their pitfalls.
His Majesty King Mohammed VI said, and I quote “Everyone must realize that the future is built now and that the next day will be the fruit of what we achieve today’’ unquote.
The bitter truth is that each generation is either beneficiary or victim of the actions and inactions of the older generations. As youth of the continent, we must end the blame games and help build the Africa we want for future generations. We must rise up to restore the dignity of Mother Africa, for the sake of future generations!
We must not give up on the African dream: the Pan-African dream of building a United Africa, a New Africa, an Africa with dignity and pride! We must not give up on the dream of the African Child, the dream of inheriting a better Africa. A better Africa is the only noble legacy we can leave behind for our Children and the unborn generations.
As beneficiaries of government scholarships, society expects us to be disciplined and discerning individuals, capable of objective rather than partisan and emotional analysis of national issues.
In line with achieving this, we should respect and promote the norms of our societies and even where we disagree with such norms, we should seek change by legitimate and established methods.
Otherwise, we put ourselves in danger of becoming anti-social. While I encourage us all to take advantage of the opportunities that our current technological world presents, I urge everyone to do so responsibly.
Every act of indiscipline, whether on social media, inappropriate behaviour in our place of work or in our communities, is a betrayal of the society which has invested so much in our education.
Let it never be said of any of us, that after receiving the kind of education Ghana and Morocco gave us, we became a disappointment to our societies and Africa. I urge us all to aspire to make a significant contribution to our society.
He also commended the National Executives of GHAMOSA and the Anniversary Committee for the excellent organization that led to a successful event.
He said their participation and presence demonstrated their shared commitment to an African continent that is looking to the future and shaping its own destiny.
By Adu Koranteng
