A new Swedish Honorary Consulate has been inaugurated in Accra to facilitate bilateral relations and cooperation between Ghana and Sweden.
The Consulate will also promote trade investments in Ghana in sectors such as renewable energy, and transport.
At the ceremony to inaugurate the Consulate, the Honorary Consul General of Sweden, Nickie Akosa, was introduced.
New Consulate
Speaking at the event, attended by the members of the Diplomatic Corps and some business personalities, the Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroun and ECOWAS, Carl Michael Gräns, said it was of great importance to Sweden to be well represented in Ghana, given the country’s predominant role in West Africa, both politically and economically.
He noted that the diplomatic relations between Ghana and Sweden was strong, dating back to the days of President Kwame Nkrumah and Ghana's independence in 1957.
More recently, we recall the important visit in 2014 by the Royal Highness, the Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden with a trade delegation. Sweden, through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, SIDA, and the Folke Bernadotte Academy, FBA, also supports the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre - a centre of regional and global excellence for peacekeeping and the promotion of peace, which keeps the spirit of the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, alive,” he said.
He also said the Ghanaian market was one of the most important for Swedish export to, and import from, noting that Swedish companies present in Ghana ranged from heavy industry to technology and start-ups.
I am happy to see some of you present here today and Ghana's reputation as a destination for business is strong, which is turning Ghana into a West African trade hub not just for big international companies such as Twitter, but also for the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, the AfCFTA”, he noted.
Strong trade relations
Akosa expressed her gratitude for the appointment to represent Sweden in Ghana and expressed her commitment to work to deepen trade relation between Sweden and Ghana.
This is my first diplomatic appointment; I hope to grow the Swedish industry interest in the Ghanaian market. Already some Swedish companies have launched in Ghana this year, and others are looking forward to investing in the country,” she said.
She also noted that she would work in collaboration with the Swedish Embassy to ensure that both countries benefited from different sectors of the economy.
For example, I work in the renewable industry so I think energy is one sector where there can be a lot of exchange between Sweden and Ghana both in terms of the technology and also knowledge sharing and expertise,” she said.
She said the Ghanaians' market access to finance working in the space of four years, moving in the right direction.
She said she would also work to support Swedish citizens, who were resident in Ghana, and promote trade relations by ensuring that Ghanaian companies interested in the Swedish market also benefited from such trade.
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