Ghana and Zambia have agreed to deepen their decades-old bilateral relations, with a renewed focus on economic cooperation.

Presidents John Dramani Mahama of Ghana and Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia reached the agreement during a bilateral meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, yesterday, where they refocused relations on mining, agriculture, trade, and marketing.

The two countries also signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) covering diaspora cooperation, disaster risk management, standardisation, conformity assessment and training, visa waiver arrangements, defence, and health cooperation.

“We have to go beyond political dialogue and go into bilateral economic relations between our two countries,” President Mahama said at the joint meeting.

He emphasised that, “We believe that this kind of enhanced economic partnership agreement will be the way to go so that we share lived experiences in real time.”

According to President Mahama, Ghana and Zambia share similar economic characteristics, having both experienced economic downturns in recent years that necessitated debt restructuring.

“There’s a lot we can learn from each other and experiences to share. Both of us have mining industries faced with challenges at all levels,” he mentioned.

President Mahama further noted that Africa’s ambition to promote trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could not be realised in isolation, stressing that strong bilateral economic relations were needed to identify tradable products and opportunities.

“Though we have the Permanent Joint Commission, we must enhance the relationship to a new level to allow us to share best practices, engage in consistent dialogue and gain direct experience across all sectors.
We are determined to rekindle the spirit between our two countries to recapture the cooperation that existed between our first presidents, so that we can win the next battle of economic transformation and create prosperity for our people,” President Mahama emphasised.

 

For his part, President Hichilema said the time had come to elevate relations between Ghana and Zambia, originally rooted in Africa’s independence struggle, towards a stronger economic agenda.

“Foreign policy and political cooperation are important, but the economic agenda is now more important than ever because it is that end that will support other aspects of our relations. We have to work together more,” President Hichilema indicated.

He commended President Mahama for leading Ghana’s economic turnaround and jokingly remarked, “Why don’t we share your economic hymn book so that we all sing from it to turn our economies around?”

President Hichilema expressed confidence that the teams tasked to implement the agreements and MoUs would deliver results.

“In Africa, we like to say things, but the two of us want to get things done,” he stated.

President Mahama is on a three-day State Visit to Zambia at the invitation of President Hichilema.