THE PRESIDENT: Well, it is a great pleasure
to welcome President Mills and his delegation
from Ghana. This gives me the opportunity
to return the extraordinary hospitality that
they showed not only me, but also Michelle
and Sasha and Malia when we had the opportunity
to visit last year.
There are sometimes -- there's sometimes a
tendency to focus on the challenges that exist
in Africa -- and rightfully so. But I think
it’s important for us to also focus on the
good news that’s coming out of Africa, and
I think Ghana continues to be a good-news
story.
This is a country that has established a strong
tradition of democracy, and President Mills
and I were comparing notes -- we’re both
up for reelection -- but what we agreed to
is the fact that regardless of who wins and
who loses, our countries' commitment to making
sure that the people have a voice and determine
who it is that represents them in their government
is what gives both our countries such strength.
And Ghana has proven, I think, to be a model
for Africa in terms of its democratic practices.
And I very much appreciate the efforts that
President Mills has taken not only to ensure
fair and free elections, but also to root
out corruption, increase transparency, make
sure that government is working for the people
of Ghana and not just for the few. So we’re
very appreciative of those efforts.
In addition, Ghana has become a wonderful
success story economically on the continent.
In part because of the initiatives of President
Mills, you’ve seen high growth rates over
the last several years. Food productivity
and food security is up. There’s been strong
foreign investment. That trade and investment
benefits folks back home here in the United
States as well.
In fact, the President’s government recently
is collaborating with a number of American
businesses to build infrastructure inside
of Ghana, which will create thousands of jobs
here in the United States. And the trade that
we engage in creates jobs for tens of thousands
of people back in Ghana.
So that’s a good-news story. And what we’ve
also been able to do is collaborate with the
Ghanaian government through the Millennium
Challenge Corporation -- they are a grant
recipient -- and it has helped to improve
a wide range of infrastructure and institutions
inside of Ghana. Our Feed the Future program
-- we’ve been able to help increase productivity
there, and the Partnership for Growth -- that
is also another mechanism where we’re collaborating,
for example, on power generation and credit
to small businesses and medium-size businesses
inside of Ghana.
Ghana has also been a leader, a responsible
actor on the international stage, working
in the region to help stabilize and reduce
conflict there. They’ve been strong partners
with us in the United Nations on a whole range
of international issues. And as important,
President Mills has consistently spoken out
on behalf of human rights and making sure
that everyone is treated fairly and not discriminated
against inside of his country.
So I am very proud of the friendship and the
partnership between Ghana and the United States.
I am confident that it will continue well
into the future, beyond the tenures of these
two Presidents. And I’m looking forward
to having an opportunity to visit Ghana once
again sometime in the future.
But in the meantime, Mr. President, welcome
to the United States, welcome to your delegation,
and we wish you all the best.
PRESIDENT MILLS: Thank you, Mr. President,
for this very warm reception. My delegation
and I are really honored to be here with the
press to say a big thank-you to you, Mr. President,
for the honor done us by singling us out for
your first visit to Africa -- it's really
inspired us.
And I’m also here to also thank you for
the help that we have been enjoying and for
the high level of cooperation and collaboration
that exists between our two countries. We
share the same values of democracy. We have
come to accept that democracy is the only
way.
And democracy goes with development. And if
you come to Africa, our people are yearning
for only one thing -- improvement in their
daily lives. And there can be no development
without peace, which means that we should
do the things which will ensure that there
is peace and that there’s no room for conflict.
The United States has been a model, and I’m
happy that we are cooperating with one another
on all kinds of fronts and they are yielding
results. And I was telling Mr. President that
when one of the roads was commissioned, and
it was built with money provided by the MCC
under our first compact, you should have seen
the joy on the faces of the Ghanaians because
there had been a radical transformation in
their lives. I mean that is what governance
is all about -- to see people happy because
they now have what they did not have.
So I assured the President that we have elections
this year, but we are going to ensure that
there is peace before, during, after the election,
because when there is no peace, it’s not
the elitists who will suffer, it’s the ordinary
people who have elected us into office.
So we have a big challenge, and we know that
some of our friends in Africa are looking
up to us, and we dare not fail them. I have
no doubt at all that we have embarked on a
useful journey, and we’ll get to the very
end. I told you that both of us are facing
elections, but our ships will be able to sail
safely to their final destination, I want
to assure you.
So thanks a lot for the wonderful reception.
We will go back with happy memories. And of
course, this will also reassure our people
that the kind of cooperation we started -- from
our first President -- is growing from strength
to strength.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT MILLS: Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you, everybody.
Results of New South Wales State elections
This page was last edited on 18 July 2022, at 01:49