Akufo-Addo declares his support for Trump

President Akufo-Addo has pledged to support United States President Donald Trump on his ‘African Agenda’.
Akufo-Addo said that he believes Trump has good plans for the continent and hence will support him towards the growth of trade and investment in Africa.

The president disclosed this when interacting with some members of the presidential press corps at the Flagstaff House following his meeting with the US President as well as seven other African presidents on the sidelines of the just-ended United Nations (UN) General Assembly meeting in New York.

Nana Akufo-Addo said, “I had the opportunity and privilege to meet the new US President, Donald Trump, and I believe this is the first time we hear him articulate an Africa policy…because he had not talked about Africa.

“The policy that emerged from our discussion was that he recognized the tremendous potential of Africa for the development of our economies and his attitude was that United States should be very engaged in promoting trade and investment in Africa and as it were, shifting from the aid mentality, culture, consciousness.”

“I welcome it because I myself feel that the aid culture and dependency has not served us particularly well and these are times for us to move away from it,” the president said.

He said that “it was good to hear an American President say that now American policy had pivoted from focus on aid to focus on trade and investment because at the end of the day, it’s the most sustainable basis for long term economic engagement between countries when we are talking about trade and investment and not about aid,” the Ghanaian leader pointed out.

“We are going to see to what extent the new programmes that the American government will put out in the weeks, months, years ahead to reflect this new focus of President Trump; we will see the programmes and initiatives that they are going to put out. We are ready on our part to participate and partner the United States if this is the focus of American policy and leadership.
“I was reassured by his emphasis on the importance of democracy, a vehicle for promoting human happiness, respect for freedoms and respect for the rule of law and that emphasis is one that accords very much with what we have been trying in the period of the Fourth Republic to do here in Ghana.”