One And Only Administrative Exchange Program In Germany: Six Ghanaian Officers Visit North Rhine-Westphalia And Berlin

Six Ghanaian officials visited German partner state North Rhine-Westphalia for ten working-days in September. As part of the second administrative exchange between the Republic of Ghana and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), the officers worked with their tandem colleagues from different ministries in Düsseldorf.

Welcoming them to the State Chancellery, Mr. Stephan Holthoff-Pförtner, Minister for International Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, hoped that this program will help build capacities of officers from both countries. "We hope that this exchange will enable both sides get to know the working methods of the partner country's administration and, above all, identify new approaches for better cooperation. Ideally, the program should even lead to long-term partnerships between the respective departments. With this novel concept of direct network and knowledge transfer, we are pioneers in the whole of Germany." He said.

The participants exchanged ideas in areas such as vocational training, refugees and migration as well as recycling of plastic waste. A courtesy call by the group to the Ghanaian ambassador H.E. Gina Ama Blay, rounded up the program.

In January 2019, government officials from North Rhine-Westphalia will be in Ghana to reciprocate the visit. The program is financed and carried out by the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia with the organizational support of World University Service (WUS), represented in Ghana by Mr. Saeed S. Billa.

Prime Minister Armin Laschet in February 2018 received Ghanaian President H.E. Akufo-Addo during his state visit to Düsseldorf. Both leaders agreed to continue the administrative exchange program, started in 2017, to strengthen their bilateral relations. The state government is particularly more interested in promoting economic cooperation with Ghana especially during the current dispensation. President Akufo-Addo also advocated that Africa above all needs more economic cooperation and not development aid.

The partnership between Ghana and North Rhine-Westphalia was established in November 2007 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by Armin Laschet in his capacity as Minister responsible for development cooperation who incidentally, became the first North Rhine-Westphalian government member to travel to Ghana in 2009. The partnership agreement was renewed in 2016.

The state government supports projects in Ghana through various funding programs and has also made the country a focal point of its cooperation with the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). Several cooperation between universities in North Rhine-Westphalia and Ghana in the fields of renewable energy and tropical medicine are geared towards mutual knowledge transfer.

In addition to government funded programs, there are other collaborations between municipalities and civil society in Ghana and North Rhine-Westphalia. Bonn and Cape Coast have a long-standing partnership. Selm supports Busunu in northern region in setting up facilities. Mönchengladbach and Offinso in Ashanti, have been linked since 2004 by close cooperation between civil societies, which is supported by the city’s administration.