Veep receives Congo envoy, October 8/2008

Story: Charles Benoni Okine

THE Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has urged African leaders to collectively devise means of harnessing the rich human and natural resources on the continent for their mutual benefit.
That, according to him, was the surest way to accelerate the social and economic development of the continent.
Alhaji Mahama said this at his Cantonment residence yesterday when a special envoy of Mr Sasssuo Nguesso, President of Congo Brazzaville, presented a special message to him for onward delivery to President Kufuor.
President Kufuor is being invited to Congo Brazzaville to attend the Sixth African Forum on Sustainable Development, which is expected to assemble African leaders to brainstorm on how to harness the rich resources on the continent for accelerated development.
Areas to be considered during the forum will be the rapid development of the agricultural sectors, while maintaining a greener forest and eco-system, as well as infrastructural development.
The forum will be under the auspices of the African Union Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa with technical assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The Vice President said the forum was a crucial one, which comes in the wake of the soaring global food and crude oil prices on the international market.
He said the Presidents of the two countries had played major roles in the past to ensure the sustainable development of the continent and noted that the forum would further afford them the opportunity to put across more ideas for the benefit of the continent.
Early on, Mr Alain Akouala Atipault, Minister of Communications and Government’s Spokesperson, who delivered the letter, said Ghana was being invited because of the special role it had played and continued to play in the affairs of Africa and the world.
He said the government under President Sassou Nguesso had a lot of confidence in President Kufuor and expressed the hope that his participation in the forum would further enhance the rich collective decisions that would be taken afterwards.
Mr Atipault expressed his gratitude to Vice President Mahama for the warm reception accorded him and his entourage.