Accra, London to chart mutual devt path — London Mayor

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has expressed optimism that in spite of the difficult past between London and Accra in terms of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the two cities are ready to write a new chapter.

He said there were enormous opportunities for collaboration between the two cities, and expressed the hope that his visit to Accra would make the working partnership flourish.

Mr Khan made the overture during a courtesy call on the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, and the Ga Traditional Council at the Ga Mantse Palace at Kaneshie in Accra last Thursday.

He said having been in Africa, and Accra in particular, “I have come to realise that our two cities, London and Accra, have a lot in common”.

“Our creative energy, our passion for music, food and culture, and our whole spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship.

This is my first time in Accra and the first time ever that a

Mayor of London has visited Africa on official business.

“Now, this week, I am meeting leaders, policymakers, investors and innovators who gave us the hand of birth and big plans to strengthen ties and usher in a unique era of partnership,” Mr Khan added.

Slave trade

While acknowledging the role of the United Kingdom (UK) in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the Mayor of London said: “I have got to say though, Royal Majesty, that our cities also have a heavy history.

It is an uncomfortable truth that London played a big role in the relation and funding for the Transatlantic Slave Trade”.

“I visited the Osu Castle, where I saw with my own eyes the door of no return, where tens of thousands of enslaved individuals were forced from Ghana on the ships across the Atlantic.

That was an unpardonable injustice,” he said, adding that the visit to Osu “was an experience I would never forget.”

He further expressed appreciation to the Ga Mantse and his people for the warm welcome accorded to him and his delegation, and lauded the King of the Ga State for his efforts to promote unity, champion culture and advance education and opportunities for Ghanaian youth.

Shared vision

King Teiko Tsuru observed that, as a city recognised worldwide for encouraging cultural diversity  and as a conducive hub of innovation and a bustling tourism hotspot, London represented a promising collaborative partner for Accra.

Such collaboration, he said, would be anchored by "our shared values and historic ties".

"The existence of communities such as Jamestown, Bukom, Osu, La, Tema, Katamanso, and other parts of Accra is not only evidence of our shared history, but also a deep-dive into the vast, untapped potential for investment partnership between the two cities," he said, adding that a prime example would be in the fishing industry, which could benefit from food waste reduction through production.

The Ga Mantse said the youth of Accra were emerging as a vibrant, technology- savvy, enterprising and globally aware human resource, with an ambition that provided fertile grounds for collaboration in various sectors, especially the import of cognitive artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

King Teiko Tsuru said just like London, "we want to develop Accra into a safe sustainable and a future-proof city that works for the people within the context of our culture and traditions".

In that regard, he said, Accra and London could learn a lot from each other.

He said one such way could be to establish an accredited periodic exchange programme between London and Accra that involved the replication of waste management systems employed, and learning best development practices, as well as skills and resource potential exploration through observation and targeted training.

The Ga Mantse expressed the hope that the visit of the Mayor of London would act as a springboard for developing mutually beneficial partnerships that promoted security and economic stability for both London and Accra.

Touching on the United Kingdom-Government of Ghana Development Partnership policy paper, King Teiko Tsuru emphasised that as the custodian of Ga culture and tradition, norms and values, four of the objectives of the policy were relevant to the vision of the Ga State.

They included economic diversification and transformation, and targeting export-oriented and high productivity sectors.