Queen of Denmark to Visit Ghana

Her Majesty Queen Margarethe II, will be visiting Ghana in response to an invitation by the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

The visit, the first of the Queen to West Africa, is scheduled from November 23 to November 25, 2017.

She will be accompanied by Denmark's Minister for foreign Affairs, Mr Anders Samuelsen, and the Minister for Environment and Food, Mr Esben Lunde Larsen.

A business delegation of 39 Danish companies from three sectors - Food and Agriculture, Sustainability and Maritime, and Infrastructure and Railways - will also be part of the state visit.

With the objective of showcasing Ghana as an attractive market for Danish Companies to invest in and partner, the business delegation will be in Ghana on the theme: "Ghana - An Emerging Market Within Reach"

Addressing a news conference in Accra, yesterday, on the Queen's visit, the Danish Ambassador to Ghana, H.E Tove Degnbol said Denmark and Ghana had a special relationship.

H.E. Degnbol indicated that "DANIDA' had become a brand name in Ghana, associated with a good and predictable partnership.

He said when looking at the amazing progress Ghana had made during the past 25 years, Denmark was proud to have shared the journey with her Ghanaian partners.

He noted that strong partnerships had often developed into close friendships and that it was expected that after 2020, Danish-Ghanaian relations would be focusing on commercial co-operation and political co-operation based on shared values, notably the promotion of human Rights, while development co-operation would have ceased.

On his part, the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Anders Samuelsen, noted that Ghana and Denmark were close partners in politics and trade, while sharing many values such as a belief in democracy and human rights as well as strong multilateral governance structures.

"Ghana is a politically-stable country. Since 1992, Ghanaians have enjoyed seven successive free and fair elections followed by three peaceful transitions of power between government and opposition parties. Respect for human rights, low levels of internal conflict, religious tolerance, an active civil society and a positive role in its regional co-operation and outreach have earned Ghana a label as " best in class in west Africa," Mr Samuelsen said.

He gave the assurance that Denmark would have a close political dialogue with Ghana and support the important regional role the country was playing, as well as promoting issues of common interest on the global agenda such as the Convention Against Torture initiative, adding that, Ghana had been one of fastest-growing economies in Africa and a growing market for Danish companies.

"The healthy economic growth rates led to a reclassification of Ghana as a lower middle-income country in 2011," he emphasised, adding that experience so far had shown that there was a large potential for increasing the commercial co-operation between the two countries.

The first development co-operation activities between Ghana and Denmark date back to Ghana's independence in 1957, while the Embassy of Denmark was opened in 1961.

When Ghana later became a priority for Danish development co-operation, the joint activities of the two countries expanded to include a wide range of areas such as water and sanitation, health, energy, transport, good governance and last, but not least, the private sector, including business advocacy and skills development.

Queen Margarethe II's visit is, therefore, expected to help consolidate the long-standing and well-established relationship between Ghana and Denmark while marking the gradual transition of the relationship with Ghana from aid to trade.

Source: ISD (Eva Frempon- Ntiamoah)

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