The President of Germany, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, is expected to arrive in Ghana today being Monday, 11th December, 2017 on a three-day visit. According to citifmonline report, the German President will be accompanied by the Federal Minister for Economy and Energy, Mrs. Brigitte Zypries, the Deputy Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Friedrich Kitschelt, the State Minister at the German Foreign Office, Maria Böhmer, as well as a substantial business delegation and guests from civil society.
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President Steinmeier’s visit will generally focus on the youth in Ghana, on scientific and academic cooperation and migration, on vocational training as well as on investment and business promotion.
Below are the major issues, according to Citi News, to be deliberated on during the German President’s visit.
Under the auspices of the two presidents, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the German Deputy Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Friedrich Kitschelt, will sign the bilateral “Investment and Reform Partnership”, bringing up to 100 million Euros of German government support to promote private investment into renewable energy in Ghana, as well as vocational training.
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The investment partnership supports Germany’s commitments under the G20 Compact with Africa, which was signed in Berlin in June 2017.
He will be accompanied by 17 representatives of German companies realizing Germany’s commitment under the G20 Compact with Africa to bring more German investment to Ghana.
Under the auspices of the President and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, the Pro Vice-Chancelor for Research, Innovation and Development, Francis Dodoo, and the Director of the Arnold-Bergstraesser Institute of the University of Freiburg, Germany, Andreas Mehler, will sign a cooperation agreement for the opening of a Merian International Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Ghana.
The Center has a thematic focus on sustainable governance, and will be supported by the German Ministry for Education and Research.
The Center will be the first of its kind in Africa.
President Steinmeier will conduct a discussion at the University of Ghana, Legon, with academics and students.
He will visit the West-African Transport Academy (WATA) in Tema, which is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the German investors Scania, Bosch, and ZF on the one side, and German Development Cooperation on the other side.
The Academy offers state of the art training facilities for young Ghanaians.
President Steinmeier will also meet with young Ghanaian entrepreneurs (start-ups), who are currently being supported by Germany with the aim of developing their business and linking them with international businesses.
The German president will attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Ghanaian-German Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration in Accra.
As of December, the Center offers advice on technical and vocational education and training opportunities in Ghana, supports returnees from Europe in their reintegration, provides information on the risks of irregular migration, and on the possibilities for legal migration to Europe.
It will make use of the extensive network of German cooperation in Ghana, especially in the areas of TVET and agriculture.
President Steinmeier will have encounters with experts and staff of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping training Center (KAIPTC), and get first-hand information on the security situation in West Africa. Germany is one of the main supporters of KAIPTC.
This will be the first time the incumbent German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is visiting an African country since he assumed office in February 2017. He is expected to leave Ghana for Germany on Wednesday, 13th December, 2017.
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