British Prime Minister Holds Talks with Ghanaian President

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, February 09, 2002

British Prime Minister Holds Talks with Ghanaian President

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Visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Ghanaian President have held discussions on a string of bilateral and international issues aimed at setting up new partnership between the West and Africa, according to a report reaching Lagos on Friday from Accra.

Blair arrived in Ghana's capital Accra late Thursday, the second leg of his four-nation Africa tour, after he ended a whirlwinding visit to Nigeria. He is the first British prime minister who set foot on the soil of Ghana since Harold Macmillan visited Ghana in January 1960.

During the talks late Thursday, Blair commended the peaceful transition to democracy in Ghana after 19 years of rule by former military ruler Jerry Rawlings referring to successful elections inJanuary 2001 in the West African country.

"Britain will do all it can to help the process of changing Ghana," Blair was quoted as saying.

The talks between the two leaders also included the political situation in Zimbabwe, international terrorism, peacekeeping in the sub-region and Ghana's role in conflict prevention, the reportsaid.

In his response, Kufuor urged Blair to back up his controversial decision to join the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC), saying that the HIPC will help Ghana move toward solid economic and social prosperity.

"We believe with British support we will get there," he said. "Just give us a push so we can do our thing."

Ghana's application to join the HIPC, proposed by Kufuor's administration in March 2001, was approved by the International Monetary Fund and formally accepted last July.

Under the HIPC initiative, more than 65 percent of Ghana's total external debt could be written off in five years.

Blair is due to address the parliament on Friday afternoon, unveiling his plans to tackle conflicts which he said are preventing the world's poorest continent from developing.

Earlier Thursday, Blair held talks with his Nigerian counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo and addressed Nigeria's national assembly, focusing on how to increase aid and trade to Africa, andhelp African countries end conflicts and civil wars.

As Ghana's former colonial country, Britain has played a great role in the economic and political fields in the West African country. According to the British high commission, the British imports from Ghana for the year 2000 totaled 99.9 million pounds (about 140.9 million U.S. dollars), while exports were worth 169.3 million pounds (about 238.7 million dollars).

Following his tour to Ghana, Blair will travel to Sierra Leone early Saturday and then Senegal before returning home.

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