Foreign
Secretary Boris Johnson will meet with President Barrow and President
Akufo-Addo on a two-day trip to West Africa.
The
Foreign Secretary will visit The Gambia and Ghana this week on 14-15 February
2017. This is the first recorded visit
to The Gambia by a Foreign Secretary. He
will meet President Barrow of The Gambia and President Akufo-Addo of Ghana to
discuss the key opportunities and challenges facing each country. The Foreign Secretary will say Global Britain
and its partnerships are growing, not shrinking, around the world as
demonstrated by the Commonwealth’s strength.
In
The Gambia in addition to meeting with President Barrow he will visit the
UK-funded Medical Research Council and speak to Chevening scholars and
employees and employers in the tourism industry – a huge employer in the
country.
In
Ghana the Foreign Secretary will visit the award-winning Blue Skies company,
meet business leaders and young entrepreneurs supported by the Department for
International Development’s ENGINE project, and meet with “Rising Black Stars”
highlighting both countries’ extensive cultural ties.
Ahead
of the visit, the Foreign Secretary said: “I’m delighted to be the first
Foreign Secretary to visit Gambia this week and delighted to have a chance to
meet the newly elected President Barrow and President Akufo-Addo of Ghana.
Their elections highlight the continuing strengthening of democracy in West
Africa.
“I
am also very pleased that Gambia wants to rejoin the Commonwealth and we will
ensure this happens in the coming months. The strength of our partnerships show
that Global Britain is growing in influence and activity around the world.”
