Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow governors. We are about to witness history. I have the great pleasure of introducing the first african leader to ever address the u. S. Governors in the history of the nga. Ghanas president , nana akufoaddo, has been focused on reshaping ghanas economy. President akufoaddo is a champion of human rights and entrepreneurial ideas. In just his first year as president , he has opened the doors for increased state engagement in ghana. Our two countries have been bound by shared values of democracy and human rights for decades. But there is an opportunity for the United States, and to growarly, the states this relationship further. This whole meeting is highlighting how the United States how governors in their states are leaders and innovation. President akufoaddos focus on developing ghanas infrastructure, agriculture and energy industry, states can play a role and leverage innovations we have made in those sectors. I know i speak for all of my fellow governors when i say we are excited to hear how we can Work Together to grow our economies. Before introducing the president , first we will see a short video on ghana. [video clip] west africas secondlargest economy, ghana. A place of immeasurable beauty, vast resources, and a warm people. When i think about ghana, i think about the potential. Ghana is a gateway of west africa. Because, anything ghana does, other countries start following. If you are new to the continent, it would be a great place to start. Ghana is not difficult. Ghana is always one of the top three priority countries and africa. It is hard for anybody not in a seriously refuse an opportunity to be within the country. The economy is expanding , driven by good cocoa harvests, construction, and transport, and increases in oil production. And gold reduction. It is a new oilproducing country. There is a lot of opportunity for new development. [indiscernible] the finished Cocoa Products are going to be used by the most wellknown chocolatier in the world. The quality is recognized worldwide as being the best. The Business Climate is attractive, continuously improving. The private sector is growing and investors are safe. Ghana is safe. People are very warm, wealthy and very well educated. They have been trained properly. There are opportunities for ownerships in infrastructure development, our generation, and manufacturing. [applause] without further ado, give a warm welcome to president akufoaddo. [applause] pres. Akufoaddo honorable governors, i must at the outset express my sincere gratitude to the chair of the National Governors association, and the governor Brian Sandoval of montana, and the vice chair, the and the of montana, entire mayorship of the csc association for the honor of this invitation to deliver this address at the National Governors association 2018 winter meeting. Ghanaian people, the first and Subsaharan Africa to free themselves of colonial rule 61 years ago and today, the development of the principles of them are chronic accountability, respect for human rights and the rule of law on the african continent are truly appreciative and deeply humbled by your choice of their leader and principal servant to be given the opportunity to address this important annual meeting. Which groups together all 50 governors, republican and democrat, of the states of this great federation, the United States of america. [applause] i recognize the significance of the movement as being the first leader from the continent to speak at this meeting. I hope that my country, ghana, and indeed the african continent will not be judged by any deficiencies of mine. [laughter] those are purely personal to me and not at all representative. Let me also express the gratitude of all freedom loving peoples of the world, to the men and women of this great country, the United States of america, the land of the free and the home of the brave. In the 20th century, the United States was largely responsible for seeing that the threat to freedom posed by totalitarian ideas such as fascism and coming communism were defeated. Americas responsibility in the 21st century is to remain the shining city upon the hill, the force of whose ideas inspire greater chapters in mans development and freedom. The space for democratic engagement, importantly in africa has certainly widened. In my country, we have decided to make a full fist of it. In the year of the fourth republic, we have experienced the longest interrupted period period ofpted stable, Constitutional Government and our history, banishing the specter of instability that disfigured the early years of our nations existence. We celebrated its silver jubilee. Democracy, equality of opportunity and respect for human rights ideas which have stood the test of time, have now found firm anchor in our body politic. We have had five successive president s in the fourth republic with peaceful transfers of power from a governing to an Opposition Party on three separate occasions. The latest being in 2016, which brought me to office. Honorable governors, my party, the new Patriotic Party and i won the 2016 election because the ghanan people were dissatisfied with their Living Conditions and the direction of the economy. They believed that we were different and could put in place the requisite measures to improve their Living Conditions. My Governments Program of economic transformations is hinged on the ritz chuck showing of the institution of governance is hinged on the restructuring of the institution , modernizing our agriculture to enhance its productivity, a clear industrial policy and rationalizing the industrial sector so it supports growth in agriculture and growth in manufacturing and industry. In my view, that is the way we can build a resilient economy and lead ghana to a situation beyond aid. That is indeed our goal, na beyond aid. A ghana capable of mobilizing its own material and Human Resources to build a strong economy. Capable of generating prosperity for the mass of our people, a ghana no longer dependent on handouts and charity. To this end, over the past 13 months, my government has begun to work on the fundamentals of the economy because we believed macroeconomy is a basic requirement for stimulating the instruments we need for the rapid expansion of the economy and the generation. F wealth and jobs area an this has led to the growing strength of our economy, from a growth rate of 3. 6 in 2016 to 7. 9 in 2017, the stabilization of our currency, reduction in inflation from 15. 6 at the end of 2016. Current level of 10. 6 . Ghanaival of canadian industry. From a growth rate of. 5 in 2016 to 17. 7 in 2017. Reduction in Interest Rates and a physical deficit from 9. 3 to 5. 6 of gdp and the abolition of useless taxes with the aim of shifting the focus of the ghana economy from an emphasis on taxation to an emphasis of production. We are also putting in place strong measures to increase revenue mobilization by plugging leaks and reforming the existing Tax Exemption regime. This process of economic and Industrial Transformation is going along with ensuring that the most basic elements of social justice are met. We began to make quality basic education, education from kindergarten through secondary school accessible to all of ghanas children. Through my governments policy of free secondary education in our public schools, launched in september 2017, 90,000 more children gained access to Senior High School in 2017 than they did the year before. [applause] equally, Accessible Health care to all of our citizens through an efficient and financially selfsustaining National Health Insurance Scheme is a crucial goal of my government. We do all of this to promote a culture of incentives and opportunity, to unleash the considerable ingenuity, creativity, and entrepreneurial talents of our people, especially of our youth. This is the surest path to national prosperity. Bolstered by an enhancement of public accountability. Last friday, before my departure for this visit, i appointed our First Special prosecutor in our history, known anticorruption crusader whose task will be to deal exclusively with corruption and hold public officials, past and resident, accountable for their stewardship of our nations public finances. A key challenge of our economy, like many other economies in africa, is our infrastructural deficit. We are embarking on an aggressive Public Private Partnership Program to attract investment in the development of both our roads and railways infrastructure. We are hopeful that the solid private sector participation we can develop a multirail network with strong links and the Strong Production center linkages and the potential to connect us to our neighbors to the north like working out faso like burkinarth faso, to the west like the ivory coast and to the east like togo. Apart from prosecuting their agenda of building at least one factory in each district of ghana, the time has come for ghana to develop strategic industry out of its abundant Natural Resources. We shall shortly establish an integrated Aluminum Development authority to assemble the relevant financial resources, the systematic exploitation and development of our bauxite deposits. By the same token, we have decided to exploit our substantial iron ore and manganese deposits situated in the northern and Western Region of our country to build a steel an integrated Steel Industry to serve the needs of our country and region. We are making systematic efforts to develop our new oil and gas industry into which exxon mobil on just appeared, signing the 18th of generating this year, on offshore oil and Gas Exploration and production agreement with ghana. We are determined to establish the relevant petrochemical industry to take advantage of the growth of our oil and gas industry. There is a lot of opportunity for american capital, technology and enterprise in ghana and africa, and we welcome companies from all your states to participate in the exceptional opportunities that exist in our country and on our continent. We appreciate the continuing support offered to our country and to the financing of our budget but the American People and their government. The 2016 election in ghana, the election which brought me to office, the United States millionted 7 u. S. Dollars toward the holding of that election. We received 547 million united dollars for the millennial challenge negotiated thehe kifor government and bush government when i was ghanas foreign minister. It was satisfactorily completed. The compact two, negotiated with the obama government, nearly 500 million is being invested in ghana to improve power generation. Nonetheless, i believe the time has come for a new form of partnership between ghana and the United States of america. We are not disclaiming aid, but we do want to discard a mindset of dependency. It is unhealthy, both for the giver and the receiver. [applause] we want our relations with the United States to be characterized by a substantial increase in trade and investment cooperation. This is the way to develop healthy relations between our two countries and thereby strengthen our economy and raise the Living Standards of our two people. Governors, i urge you not to ignore our continent. Many people say this is the asian century but i believe strongly that this can be africas century. Our growth in 2015 was second only to that of asia. According to the world bank, six of the worlds 10 fastestgrowing economies this year are in africa. We are rich in Natural Resources and in possession of nearly 30 of the earths remaining mineral resources. We have a vibrant young population and though we still have important security challenges, we are more at peace than before, despite the distressing events leading to to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in congo. The African Union has to rise to the occasion and globalize the community to find a peaceful democratic outcome to the crisis in the democratic republic of congo. We now see the beginnings of regional trade, which is about to be given an institutional framework by the historic decision of the African Union to 21ng into being on march 2018, the continental free trade area. Organization,onal for the First Time Since its establishment all 15 member countries have democratically elected governments. It gives us a great opportunity to prosecute vigorously the agenda of original integration, not just with words, but with concrete regional products that will benefit our populations. This is the time to look at africa. Yes, it is disheartening to find that africans do not see a future in their respective countries and are willing to cross the Sahara Desert on foot and drawn in the Mediterranean Sea in a desperate bid to reach the mirage of a better life in the europe. With the majority of african economies dependent on the production and export of Raw Materials, who can blame them for wanting to leave . These economies cannot produce wealth and prosperity for the masses on the continent. It therefore drives the determination to seek a much better standard of living out of africa, thereby fueling the refugee crisis and the numerous counts of illegal migrations. The large wave of migrations into the united dates from ireland and italy in the 19th century has completely subsided because the economies of those two countries are working properly. We in africa cannot continue ath ofing the world p limited success being exporters of Raw Materials our problems. Require that we think outside of the box. Our thinking and approach to solving problems must be different, from the thinking of approach brought from the approach that not the problems in the first place. The only way to ensure prosperity for africa and jobs for our young population is through Value Addition activities in a transformed and diversified modern economy in which we take full advantage of the digital revolution. In other words, the Industrial Development of our continent. We are determined to ensure the realization of this, so that orient people can stay and devote their great energies to the building of a great africa. I want to recount at this juncture the inspiring words of the american politician Williams Jenning Bryan destiny is not a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for. It is a thing to be achieved. [applause] there are many amongst us who cannot accept that it is only asians who can engineer a a generation, their transition from poverty to. Rosperity to reac we are determined to do that in our generation in ghana and ensure that succeeding generations will not be victims or pawns of the global order. This will serve as the impetus of reshaping the continent and charting a new path of wealth and development and freedom which will lift of the longsuffering african masses out of poverty to the room suffers 30 and dignified existence poverty to the realm of prosperity and dignified existence. In conclusion, let me reaffirm the commitment of my government in ghana on Standing Shoulder to shoulder with the United States and the promotion of human rights on the african continent and across the globe. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States in their rejection of terrorism as a legitimate means of resolving political disputes. We appreciate the courageous commitment and the lead role being played in the fight against terrorism by the United States in several parts of the world, including the sahara region of west africa. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States in attempting to develop our economies to provide opportunities for citizens to fulfill their aspirations, especially the youth. We stand ready to renew and deepen our relations with United States of america for the progress and prosperity of our two peoples. May god bless us all and the peoples of the United States of america and ghana. I thank you for your attention. [applause] that was very inspirational. We appreciate you being here. Pres. Akufoaddo thank you very much. Thank you. snouncer the nation governors also discussed education during their annual winter meeting held this weekend in washington. Wednesday morning, we have a really great discussion out of this morning. Examiningo prosperity our possibilities of
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