The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo received at the Presidency the Vice President of the State Council of Cuba, Mrs. Mercedes López Acea, who conveyed a message from the President of the Councils of States and Ministers, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, to the Ghanaian government and people.
The Vice President, after highlighting the good state of the historic bilateral relations, and expressing that the purpose of the visit was to strengthen relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries, told the President that is well recognized in Cuba the visits that he performed when he was Foreign Minister in 2006.
The Ghanaian leader said Ghana was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to recognize the Cuban Revolution in 1959. He reiterated the commitment to stay with Cuba in the fight against the blockade, an aspect that he described as a "matter of principle". He also thanked Cuba for training in its classrooms over 3000 young Ghanaians.
President Akufo-Addo, who said he was aware of the transformations that Cuba is carrying out in the field of the economy, pointed out its aims of elevating economic-commercial relations to the same level of political relations. Once again he requested the support of the Caribbean Island in the fight against malaria. For her part, Vice President Lopez Acea expressed her country's interest in strengthening bilateral cooperation.
During the meeting, the Cuban Vice President was accompanied by the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Ana Teresita González Fraga; Ambassador of Cuba to Ghana, Mr. Pedro L. Despaigne González and Ambassador Mr. Sidenio Acosta Aday, official of the Sub-Saharan African Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On the Ghanaian side, the President was accompanied by the Chief of Staff/Office of the President, Mrs. Akosua Frema Osei-Opare; the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Mohammad Habibu Tijani, and the Ambassador of Ghana to Cuba, Mr. Napoleon Abdulai, among other officials of the Ghanaian presidency and chancellery.