First Lady leads female entrepreneurs to China

The First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, is leading a delegation of female Ghanaian business owners and entrepreneurs to China from November 20 to 29, 2017 on a state visit.

Her delegation is also made up of state officials, including the Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Prof. Kwesi Yankah; the Director of Crop Research Institute (CSI), Dr Stella Ennim, and Mrs Millicent Degraft-Johnson from the Ministry of Finance, as well as civil society leaders.

The visit will provide the First Lady and her delegation with the opportunity to interact with various segments of Chinese business owners, research institutions and various government agencies to further strengthen ties between business women of the two countries.

This trip will enable the First Lady to examine the prospects of Ghanaian women working with their Chinese counterparts to improve the economies of both countries.

Ghana and China have strong business relations and the trip is expected to open up opportunities for technology transfer, innovations and investment opportunities for both countries.

The visit will further deepen relations and strengthen economic cooperation between Ghana and China.

Visit to provinces

Mrs Akufo-Addo will also visit some selected provinces and cities including Beijing, the Qindao Municipality in the Shandong Province, Changsha in the Hunan Province, the Shenzhen in the Guangdong province and Hong Kong.

During the visit, the First Lady will support the President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) to open the first Ghana Trade and Investment office in Qingdao in China.

The delegation will also travel to Hunan where they will meet provincial officials and visit the laboratory of “the father of rice”, Mr Yuan Long Pin, investor of the hybrid rice variety, to discuss how China can assist Ghana to improve its yield in rice production.

Visit to Hong Kong

The First Lady will then proceed to Shenzhen in the Guangdong Province to meet the official of China National Building Materials (CNBM) who are working with Ghana on the “One District, One Factory “ initiative and also visit Huawei headquarters to hold discussions with officials there.

On her way to back home, Mrs Akufo-Addo will make a stopover at Hong Kong to meet with the Hong Kong Financial and Investment community, a keen advocate on the economic empowerment of women which is working through her foundation to undertake initiatives that would enhance the wellbeing of women and girls.

The trip will also afford the First Lady the opportunity to see at first-hand prospects of Ghanaian women working with their Chinese counterparts in terms of knowledge and technology transfer, innovations and investment opportunities for both countries.

“The visit by the First Lady follows recent high level exchanges between the two countries and is an indication of the importance His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo’s government attaches to Ghana–China relations,” says Ghana‘s Ambassador to China, Mr Edward Boateng.

Writer's email:rebecca.quaicoe-duho@graphic.com.gh