At the invitation of the Vice President of Ghana, Mr John Dramani Mahama, the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe will pay a working visit to the Republic of Ghana on 19 to 21 April 2012.
Deputy President Motlanthe will visit Ghana within the context of consolidating the African Agenda through the enhancing and deepening of the political, economic and social relations.
This visit is aimed at strengthening the already existing cordial relations between South Africa and Ghana.
The Deputy President and his Ghanaian counterpart will discuss and concretise cooperation in the key priority areas such as energy security, energy-related technology, and environmental issues, including the management of national parks.
With regard to bilateral trade, Ghana represents the major export market for South African goods in West Africa after Nigeria and while total trade volumes are still relatively low in global terms, it is expected that these figures will grow.
In recent years, trade between South Africa and Ghana has grown significantly. South African exports have grown from less than R1 billion in 1998 to over R3 billion in 2009. Equally, imports from Ghana have shown constant increase during the same period. Products such as vehicles, machinery, mechanical appliances; electrical equipment, base metals, aircraft, vessels & associated products contributes to the increased exports to Ghana.
There are more than eighty South African companies registered in Ghana. The South African investors are prevalent in the following sectors: mining, retail, insurance, transport, tourism, banking, telecommunication, construction, services, franchising, manufacturing, fishing, advertising, aviation and energy.
Deputy President Motlanthe will be supported by the Minister of Energy Dipuo Peters, Minister of Public Enterprises Malusi Gigaba, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ebrahim Ebrahim and senior government officials.
For further information please contact:
Mr Clayson Monyela (spokesperson for DIRCO)
Cell: 082 884 5974
