India’s help has helped Ghana keep its Covid-19 tally low, Michael Aaron NN Oquaye Esq (Jnr), Ghana’s High Commissioner to India, said in an interview with Pushkar Banakar. Excerpts:
How do you see India-Ghana relations evolving after the pandemic?
The pandemic showed us why Ghana is very close to India. We have a similar cultural background and we have a similar climate of business. During the pandemic, Ghana has had lots of conversations with India including conversations for pharmaceutical products. This has proven our relations. In fact, a large number of pharmaceutical products sold in Ghana are manufactured in India. The Ghanian government spoke to the Indian government to arrange import of HCQ which was useful in tackling coronavirus. If you see, Ghana’s Covid deaths are very low.
There has been considerable dip in imports and exports between Ghana and India. Do you see a particular reason? If yes, how are you trying to overcome this?
The figures are actually reverse. It is true that in terms of trade in favour of India, the figures have gone down. However, in terms of investment, there is a different pattern. Trade with India in 2016 was $26 billion and it rose to around $30 billion the following year. Between 2017 and 2019 the trade has increased by 48 per cent. What really has come down is the balance of trade in favour of India.
This is because Ghana is producing luxury items like gold and cocoa that India is consuming. The more India is prospering, the more gold and cocoa its people buy. There has been a new area of collaboration — oil and gas. Recently, India has signed a MoU with Ghana for procurement of LPG. Oil companies want to come to Ghana for oil refining but the pandemic has pushed back that date. These factors put trade in Ghana’s favour and also the fact that India’s consumption of goods has increased manifold. In terms of investment, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre has ranked India as number two not only in terms of number of projects but also in terms of monetary value. At the moment, there are 750 projects worth $1.8 billion.
Recently, a group of Indian businessmen in Ghana donated Rs 4 million to help tackle Covid. The Indian diaspora is about 20,000 strong. What role has it played in development of the Ghanian economy?
The number of Indians in Ghana has increased significantly and this has contributed to the huge investments. The number of visas granted to Indians has gone up at least 2.5 times in the last three years. The Association of Indians in Ghana and other prominent Indians have come together to chip in. This mainly went into feeding poor people in the lockdown. They also gave medicines and money for research at the Noguchi Memorial Institute and for procurement of test kits and PPEs.
What are the new sectors of cooperation that Ghana is looking to deal with India?
We are looking at the oil and gas sector. The Indian oil companies should not only look at end purchase. We want them to be a part of the full chain in the energy sector. We want them to be involved in drilling and other processes, too. Another area of interest is fishing... Railway is another sector in which the two countries have gone into a partnership.