President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his Beninoise counterpart Patrice Talon on Wednesday discussed security and Regional Integration to climax the activities of the visiting President’s visit.
The Beninoise President who arrived in Ghana for a day’s working visit to boost ties between both countries was met on arrival at the Jubilee Lounge of the Kotoka International Airport by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He later inspected a full guard of honour mounted by the Ghana Air Force, and thence proceeded to the Flagstaff House where bilateral talks were held between both leaders.
After closed-door discussions, both Presidents addressed the media, with President Akufo-Addo sharing his delight to discover that he and his Beninoise counterpart held similar views on the issues of the region.
He said their discussions centered on the need for a faster integration of the people of West Africa and on the need for security in the sub-region.
The President described Mr Talon’s presence in Ghana as “important”, because relations between the two countries had been greatly renewed, and that Benin and Ghana hold the same values that had spearheaded democratic governance in the sub-region.
President Talon, on his part, said his visit was within a wider framework of enhancing cooperation between Ghana and among the countries of the region and thanked President Akufo-Addo and the people of Ghana for the warm show of hospitality accorded him and his entourage.
President Talon, married to a Ghanaian woman, noted that although the people of West Africa shared socio-cultural similarities, the process of integrating the region, which would bring tangible benefits to the region was not being pursued with the urgency it deserved.
“Our region has reached a level of integration that should lead to real progress in the region…What our forebears did not succeed in doing, we should do it now to guarantee our development,” he said.
He continued, “The Onus is on us as leaders to work towards the integration of the region for the benefits of our people”.
The Beninoise President told his host, President Akufo-Addo that he would be spending more of his vacation in Ghana than in Europe. “We would have to do our best for our people and get to know our countries better than Europe”.
He extended his country’s condolence to Ghana for the loss of lives in the tragic gas explosion that occurred at the Atomic Junction in Accra and claimed seven lives and injured as many as 132 people.
Benin and Ghana have had relations bothering on politics, economics and culture dating back to 1962. Both have followed similar socio-economic development strategies since attaining independence, with both countries sharing similar orientation and common positions on issues of international concern.
The socio-economic cooperation between both nations have been conducted mostly within the framework of a Ghana-Benin Permanent Joint Commission, signed in August 1976 and ratified on February 8, 1979.
The two nations have within the framework of the Permanent Joint Commission, concluded various agreements of cooperation ranging from tourism, agriculture, road transport, telecommunications, health, extradition, civil aviation, with the last being a Protocol Agreement on military cooperation signed in Accra in October 2011.
Source: GNA
