Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang on Thursday welcomed her Colombian counterpart, Francia Elena Márquez Mina, to Accra in a visit that underscored the growing partnership between the two nations. It was the second official trip to Ghana by Colombia’s vice president since assuming office, a sign of strengthening bilateral relations.
Professor Opoku-Agyemang described the occasion as a reaffirmation of “deep, longstanding, and mutually respectful relations” rooted in shared values and common aspirations. She praised Márquez Mina’s record as a champion of racial equity, human dignity, and reparative justice—causes that resonate across Latin America and beyond.
The Ghanaian vice president highlighted the convergence between Colombia’s push for reparations for communities affected by slavery and systemic marginalisation, and Ghana’s leadership in global discussions on restorative justice. “Colombia’s commitment to advancing reparations strongly aligns with Ghana’s leadership in this vital discourse,” she said.
On the economic front, Opoku-Agyemang pointed to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a strategic gateway for Colombian businesses seeking access to Africa’s single market of 1.3 billion people. “Ghana stands ready to serve as Colombia’s natural entry point into this vast market,” she noted, identifying agriculture, digital innovation, climate resilience, and trade investment as promising areas for collaboration. Improved air and maritime connectivity, she added, would be essential to unlocking this potential.
The meeting concluded with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Colombia’s Diplomatic Academy and Ghana’s Foreign Service Institute, formalising academic cooperation and institutional exchanges between the two countries’ diplomatic training bodies.
Both sides hailed the partnership as a model of effective South-South cooperation—an example of collaboration between developing nations that bypasses traditional North-South frameworks.
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