Ghana, Southern China Airlines hold mutual discussions — Explore direct flights from Ghana to Guangzhou

The government is in discussions with Southern China Airlines to explore the provision of aviation services for the West Africa Region via a direct flight operations from Accra to Guangzhou.

This is to help facilitate mobility between Ghana, the rest of West Africa and China.

A letter from the transport ministry has already been sent in this regard, through the efforts of Ghana’s Ambassador to China, Winfred Nii Okai Hammond, following a visit by a delegation of government officials led by immediate past  Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to China.

Speaking in an interview with the Graphic Business after he visited China, Mr Ofori-Atta said such a collaboration would deepen activities of the country’s aviation industry and also boost trade between Ghana and China.

The delegation also held discussions with the Chinese private sector, with a focus on advancing infrastructural development through public-private partnerships (PPP).

The partnership aims to leverage the expertise, resources and technology of the Chinese private sector to support the development of key projects in the areas of green and clean energy investments, waste-to-energy infrastructure, an electric assembly chain, artificial intelligence, airline and aviation services and strong value-addition industrial base for the country’s major raw material exports.

Electric vehicles

Mr Ofori-Atta said the delegation explored collaboration between the two countries on the production of electric vehicles spearheaded by Huawei and Sunon Asogli while the latter also committed to double its energy production in Ghana.

He also noted that the country would soon sign an MoU with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to see how to establish some partnerships with the Ghana Stock Exchange.

“We are also looking to establish a Ghana/Hong Kong chamber in Ghana to boost trade between the two countries,” he stated.

Mr Ofori-Atta said the delegation, which comprised of the President of the Association of Ghana Industries, Dr Humphrey Darke, also held extensive conversations with a company which was interested in mining bauxite and establishing a refinery in Ghana.

“Fortunately, the president of AGI is a board member of Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GIADEC). So, that discussion was extensive and they have agreed to come to Ghana for further discussions,” he said.

He said discussions were also held on how to expand the country’s railway sector through partnerships.

Chinese govt commitment

Commenting on the government-to-government conversations, Mr Ofori-Atta said China reiterated its commitment to support the country’s economic agenda and to ensure that discussions with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) went well.

He said the assertion that China was a difficult party to deal with was not factual, adding that the country got a good deal with China.

“At the end of the day, with the discussions they had, they came up with a better product than what they had done with Zambia and other countries. So maybe the process was difficult but the results indicated an intimacy with the issues of development,” he said.