The European Commission Vice President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, will arrive in Ghana on June 13, for a two-day official visit as part of a two-nation visit to Togo and Ghana.

While in Ghana, Jyrki Katainen will participate in the first Ghana-EU Business Forum, on 14 June in Accra and deliver the closing remarks alongside the Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

He will also hold bilateral meetings with Ghana's Vice President and the Economic Management team.

He will deliver a lecture on the EU-Africa Alliance at the Kofi Annan ICT Training Centre, hold meetings with civil society and the private sector and grant interviews to the media.

He will also visit Tema Port’s new terminal, which is providing strategic enhanced capacity for international and regional trade.

 In Togo, he will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the first Togo-EU Economic Forum on June 13, together with the Togo President, Faure Gnassingbé, which will also be the venue for the launch of the European Chamber of Commerce in Togo.

His visit to the two countries emphasises Europe’s strong commitment and partnership in the region, in the context of the Africa-Europe Alliance for sustainable investment and jobs.

 The Africa-Europe Alliance represents a coherent economic strategy of engagement aimed at job creation with the support of sustainable private sector investment, covering de-risking, investment climate, trade/economic integration, including the Economic Partnership Agreements, and education/vocational training.

 In view of both countries’ commitments to economic and social transformation and reform undertaken to date (as part of the G20 Compact with Africa launched in 2017), it is clear that both countries offer strong potential for Alliance implementation and its flagship, the EU’s External Investment Plan.