Ayorkor Botchwey, Sri Lanka discuss economic cooperation
Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has held talks with her Sri Lankan counterpart, Mr Ali Sabri, on her Commonwealth bid and ways to cooperate to build economic resilience for the two countries.
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The two met behind closed doors in Colombo on Ms Botchwey’s candidacy for the Commonwealth Secretary-General’s position due to be decided in October when Heads of Governments meet at their biennial summit in the Pacific island nation of Samoa.
Economic crisis
“As Commonwealth countries who have gone through similar difficult economic experiences recently, there’s a lot we can learn from each other,” Ms Botchwey said.
Sri Lanka suffered paralysing street protests, culminating in the collapse of the government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022.
It followed a post-COVID financial crisis which saw the value of the Sri Lankan rupee plummet by over 90 per cent against the US dollar and inflation balloon past 70 per cent.
Mr Sabri took over as Finance Minister for an interim period, leading to a turnaround in the fortunes of the island country, formerly known as Ceylon, and famed for its tea production.
Like Sri Lanka, Ghana turned to the IMF for a bailout following a similar economic crisis in 2022 and 2023.
“This is extremely important for us in the Commonwealth that we’re able to draw from each other’s experiences and learn where other members have unique expertise,” Ms Botchwey said.
Both countries are currently experiencing a turnaround, with inflation in Sri Lanka down to about 40 per cent and tourist arrivals expected to reach two million by the end of this year, up by nearly two-thirds compared to 2022. Ghana’s inflation had also more than halved to 20.9 per cent in July.
Ms Botchwey was particularly impressed with Sri Lanka’s green energy transition. Renewable energy currently provides 50 per cent of the country’s power needs, with a 2030 target of 70 per cent within reach, according to Mr Sabri.
Consumers in the country of 22 million are able to sell the excess power they produce to the national grid. In Ghana, renewables account for about 31.6 per cent of electricity production, coming mostly from hydro.
Addressing climate change is one of the key components of Ms Botchwey’s vision for the Commonwealth, should she replace the current British-Dominican office-holder, Baroness Patricia Scotland, who is serving her second and final term.
Vision
The other planks of Ms Botchwey’s vision include democracy, good governance and democratic dividend - that is democracy with tangible economic outcomes; education and skills training and support for start-ups for the youth, and increased trade and investment among members of the 56-member organisation.
“Ghana would like to cooperate and learn from Sri Lanka in the areas of textile and garments, as well as rice production and tourism,” Ms Botchwey said.
Mr Sabri said Commonwealth countries must work closely to expand their basket of trade, and Sri Lanka would be happy to explore further opportunities in Ghana.
The footprint of the Sri Lankan textile industry in Africa is currently limited to Egypt and Kenya.
Total export value from Sri Lanka to Ghana was just under $20 million in 2021, while total imports from Ghana to Sri Lanka for the same period stood at approximately $500,000.
Ghana has one-third more people (33 million) than Sri Lanka (22 million) but has approximately the same annual GDP of $75 billion.
Sri Lanka has a literacy rate of 95 per cent compared to Ghana’s 70 per cent. Education in the Sri Lankan public system is free through to university.