As Ghana prepares to take over the chairmanship of the African Union in 2027, the country’s delegation has been holding several bilateral talks with strategic partners and key member states of the Union to understand what priority areas President John Mahama must focus on when he assumes office.
Egypt, Portugal, the United States are among countries that Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has held bilateral engagements with ahead of the arrival of the heads of states for the 39th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Executive Council of the AU.
Although details of the meetings are sketchy, it is believed that the bilateral meetings focused on areas including security enhancement on the continent, trade partnerships, health amongst others.
“We’ve also had very good meetings with the leadership of the Africa Union Commission. Remember that Ghana is preparing to take over the leadership next year, so we’ve got to hit the ground running.
So, we’ve began consultations with all the relevant partners so that we can understand what the priority areas are, what should be the deliverables.
“President Mahama has asked us to consult widely and to put together a team of experts to draft his vision, his mandate, his priorities… We’ve also been looking at other 2026 priorities with Egypt like my official visit on the 8th of June, proceeding from there to Algeria and later to South Africa,” Mr Ablakwa said.
Ghana’s President, John Mahama has received invitations for state visits by countries in the Asian region like Singapore and Japan and the Middle East like Qatar since he assumed office in 2025.
These visits mainly aimed at boosting bilateral relations has also given credence to Ghana’s growing global influence which was started by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah the nations first president.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says a number of state visits have been lined up for the year all aimed at consolidating relations and boosting trade and diplomacy with nations around the world.
By Martin Asiedu-Dartey
