International Relations expert, Frank Boateng Agyarkwa has praised the recent visit of United States Vice President Kamala Harris to Ghana as positive in “every aspects of diplomacy.”
In an interview on the Happy Morning Show with Samuel Eshun, Mr. Agyarkwa stated the visit has boosted Ghana’s standing on the global stage and cemented its position as a key player in African affairs.
According to Mr. Agyarkwa, the visit has already yielded significant benefits for Ghana, including the announcement by Vice President Harris of a $100 million support to Ghana and other African countries in the fight extremism.
He believes the additional promise of a $139 million initiative to support Ghana’s budget and fiscal policy will help Ghana negotiate with the IMF to get the loans that it needs to support its development agenda.
Agyarkwa also praised the Vice President for her efforts to promote economic cooperation between the US and Ghana, noting that the visit will help to create new opportunities for trade and investment between the two countries.
“The market and economic forces work on speculations and you see the Vice President said they will help Ghana to manage the economic situation and have bilateral talks with our creditors and help us manage our economy. Basically this is good as they help Ghana negotiate with the IMF to get the loans that we so badly need so I think all in all it is really positive,” he added.
He further emphasized that Ghana has valuable goodwill abroad and is a strategic partner for the US in Africa and that the visit has helped to strengthen the existing ties between the two countries.
“Ghana has in the past and always been the first point of call for the United States. Ghana is the gateway to Africa because basically when the US wants to do anything Africa, Ghana is their first point of call. You cannot really come to Africa and do anything without coming to Ghana. Ghana has a lot of goodwill and it’s only that Ghanaians ourselves don’t value what we have but outside we have a lot of goodwill at the mention of Ghana. There are other African country but Ghana stands tall. I believe it is really not out of order but in the right place that the Vice President of the US decided to come to Ghana first.”