ECOWAS, Japanese leaders confer
President John Dramani Mahama has returned home from Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, where he attended a summit of ECOWAS Heads of Government and the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Shinzo Abe.
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Before leaving Abidjan, President Mahama held discussions with the Ivorien President, Mr Alhassane Ouattara.
The two leaders discussed matters of common interest to the two countries.
President Mahama and other ECOWAS Heads of Government were guests of Mr Ouattara, who is also the Chairman of ECOWAS.
The summit, which was in two segments, started Friday evening, and according to Mr Abe, Japan could not fail to recognise West Africa as a dynamic community of nations that had vast potential in several areas.
Mr Abe, who was accompanied by a large delegation of Japanese business people said his country's industrialists and businesses had a keen interest in investing in the sub-region.
He noted that some of them had already begun scouting for new areas of investment.
Mr Abe also recognised the united stance of the sub-region's leaders against violence and conflict, noting that Japan intended to partner with them in their efforts at conflict resolution.
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The Japanese Premier welcomed the use of dialogue as a first step to resolving conflicts.
The West African leaders discussed Japan's interests and the region's expectations, which hinged more on infrastructural development.
The leaders discussed support for the Abidjan- Lagos rail line project which was tabled at the June 2013 Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) in Japan.