President John Dramani Mahama has engaged in talks with Comoros President, Azali Assoumani, for potential areas of cooperation including infrastructure development, trade and visa-free policies.

The meeting, which took place at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday during a state visit by President Assoumani, marked an important diplomatic engagement between the two countries.

President Mahama welcomed President Assoumani, thanking him for his visit and acknowledging their previous meetings at the Energy Summit and the AU retreat in Nairobi, Kenya.

President Mahama emphasised the importance of dialogue initiatives such as the Africa Prosperity Dialogue (APD) in addressing low trade levels among African countries.

“Africa is a growing continent with great potential but there are low trade levels among our countries so believe that dialogue initiatives like the APD help us to address that,” President Mahama said.

President Mahama highlighted Ghana's commitment to visa-free policies, allowing Africans to move freely on the continent.

“Many countries are adopting visa-free policies to make it easy for access and in Ghana, we believe that African people should be able to move freely among the continent and that is why we have introduced visa-free to most African countries,” President Mahama said.

President Mahama added “we would want to trigger a permanent joint commission with Comoros and I am sure that this your visit will facilitate that process. Ghana is a home to all Africans just like I am sure Comoros is home to all of us.”

Both leaders discussed potential areas of cooperation, including infrastructure development, trade and visa-free policies. 

Gratitude

For his part, President Assoumani expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome he received in Ghana, particularly at the mosque where he attended Friday prayers.

He congratulated President Mahama on his election and praised Ghana's stability and peaceful transfer of power.

President Assoumani shared his vision for Comoros, emphasising the need for infrastructure development, particularly in sea and air transport.

“Africans have had all manner of interactions among ourselves, but today the best vehicle to help us achieve our potential is through trade and the AfCFTA.

We believe that it’s a good vehicle to circulate goods and service among us in Africa before going to the rest of the world,” he said. 

He also proposed that Comoros' Ambassador in Senegal oversaw Ghana, promoting closer ties between the two nations.

“It’s time for us to act and not just speak so I propose that this my ambassador here, who is our ambassador in Senegal, will have oversight over Ghana.

We were thinking of crediting the ambassador in Addis Ababa. But this man can walk across into Ghana so we thought of accrediting him rather,” he said. 

The meeting marked an important step in strengthening diplomatic ties between Ghana and Comoros, with both leaders committing to work together to promote economic growth and development in Africa.