Scots can help Ghana transform – Mahama

President John Mahama has said Scotland can help Ghana advance its quest to transform its economy from a commodity exporter to a manufacturer.

Addressing the Scottish parliament on Thursday during his recent official visit to that country, Mr Mahama said Scotland “is a country that has over the years, led the world in heavy industry such as steel, ship building, coal mining and also in oil and gas. Ghana has under my administration been on a quest to diversify the base of our economy. This is aimed at transforming us from a primary commodity exporter and import dependent economy, into an export led, value added one.”

“In this journey of transformation, Scotland provides us with a good opportunity for collaboration in developing our manufacturing sector.

“We have already established an impressive collaboration in developing our human resource and management capacity in the oil and gas industry.

“Our relations have grown over the years nurtured by strong people to people contacts, a dynamic Diasporan community, regular high level visits and significant economic ties. I am, therefore, positive that my visit to Scotland could further strengthen these relations and see the exploration of even new areas of trade and investment between us,” Mr Mahama added.

The Ghanaian President’s full speech to the Scottish Parliament is attached above.