Akufo-Addo to meet Ivorian envoy over ruling on maritime boundaries

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and President Alhassan Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire have agreed to abide by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea’s (ITLOS’s) ruling on the maritime boundary dispute and work together to ensure the smooth implementation of the court’s decision.

The Minister of Information, Mr Mustapha Abdul Hamid, said the President and his Ivorian counterpart had a very fruitful engagement on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

Mr Hamid said this when he addressed the press at the Jubilee Lounge of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) on the President’s return from the UN General Assembly last Sunday.

He announced that in the coming weeks, the Ivorian President would send envoys to Ghana and together the two governments would tell the world what they were going to do in respect of the judgement.

He emphasised that President Akufo-Addo would not make any public pronouncements on the outcome of the case pending a meeting with a government delegation from Cote d’Ivoire.

Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire

Mr Hamid said President Akufo-Addo and President Ouattara were of the view that apart from the maritime boundary dispute that was ruled largely in favour of Ghana, the two countries had much to do in the area of leveraging on their potential as world leading producers of cocoa.

Towards that end, Mr Hamid reported that they had agreed that as the two major controllers of the world cocoa market, “we need to collaborate more and do things in sync so that we can determine the prices at which we sell our cocoa to the world.”

Ghanaian story

Throwing more light on the trip, Mr Hamid said the President addressed the UN General Assembly and told the story of how Ghana was determined to advance its development and be a truly independent African nation beyond aid.

“Apart from that,” he said, “the President had a number of important engagements with various heads of government across the world, including the British Prime Minister, Madam Theresa May, the US President, Mr Donald Trump, and other African Heads of State.”

According to Mr Hamid, the President also met with players in the world’s cocoa industry to sell Ghana’s case to them as far as the country’s cocoa was concerned.