Ghana and Singapore have announced plans to deepen their cooperation on sustainable development and value-added agriculture, during bilateral talks in Singapore.
Singapore is the first Asian country to sign a carbon credit implementation deal with Ghana, which in turn is the first African country to enter such an arrangement.
Carbon markets agreement
This ‘pioneering’ carbon markets agreement is designed to channel investment into low-carbon infrastructure, while also supporting Ghana’s broader development agenda, the two countries noted.
Other areas of interest include agribusiness, and the downstream processing of products like cashew and cocoa, Singapore president Tharman Shanmugaratnam noted, “and we are ready and glad to pursue them together.”
Modern agriculture
Ghanaian president John Mahama added that the African country is seeking to bolster job creation by increasing its investment in modern agriculture and associated services.
“On tackling the challenge with jobs, agribusiness has space for work and lots of employment, and we have, as part of our Reset Agenda, put a lot of focus on it,” he commented.
Citing the Volta Economic Corridor, an industrial development plan by the government of Ghana, he added that the country boasts some two million hectares of riverside land for “development into agro-processing parks, irrigated lands, et cetera, and that surely will be another game changer under our Resetting Ghana and the 24-hour economy programme.”
In addition to agriculture, Mahama highlighted Ghana’s creative and digital services sector as a growing source of employment, particularly for the country’s large population of young people.
Mahama described the bilateral cooperation with Singapore as consistent with Ghana’s role in advancing regional integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“We are stabilising the economy,” he said, adding that the next phase is to convert stability into sustainable, job-rich growth through green finance, downstream processing and digital opportunity. Read more here.
