Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov has announced during the recent breakfast meeting with African Foreign Ministers on that Moscow was strongly supporting Ghana’s application to join BRICS as a partner country.

Minister Sergey Lavrov further pledged to rally all founding BRICS members to ensure consensus support for Ghana.

Ghanaian Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who recently also travelled to Russia joining his President, John Dramani Mahama at the Russia-Africa Summit, conveyed Ghana’s deep appreciation to his Russian colleague whom he described to be also a great friend.

African Foreign Ministers have been holding strategic meetings with the Russian Foreign Minister at the Russia-Africa Summit.

The Mahama Administration said it will continue to uphold Ghana’s longstanding foreign policy of non-alignment and friends of all, enemies to none, as Ghana pursues diversified development options in its national interest.

If accepted Ghana will become the fourth African state to join BRICS, an international organization currently comprising ten countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

BRICS conceptual origins were articulated by Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov in 1998, and can be traced to informal forums and dialogue groups such as RIC (Russia, India, and China) and IBSA (India, Brazil, and South Africa).

Agreements Between Ghana and Russia

At the just ended Russia-Africa Summit held in Moscow, Ghana said they were happy to report that, in direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President John Mahama has secured several concrete commitments with Kremlin.

1. Russia has agreed to work with Ghana to establish a 2,000 megawatts nuclear power plant to guarantee energy security and anchor industrialization. This is a revival of Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah’s vision for which he commenced preparatory works but was truncated by the coup of February 28, 1966;
2. A new defence pact with Russia to acquire strategic military assets for the globally respected Ghana Armed Forces;
3. Ghana and Russia will enhance their dual agricultural cooperation aimed at boosting grain production and provision of fertilizers;
4. Russia will also increase scholarships for Ghanaian students. Ghana now ranks second as the African nation with the highest number of students;
5. Following concerns raised by President Mahama, President Putin has declared that Ghanaians are no longer allowed to participate in the war with Ukraine. This policy applies to all circumstances whether through irregular recruitments or expression of voluntary interests;
6. Ghana and Russia will revive the country’s Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC) with Moscow ready to host in the next few weeks.

The UN Day in Accra

Meanwhile Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with the United Nations Office in Accra, recently commemorated the 81st Anniversary of the United Nations (UN) Day with a Flag-Raising Ceremony held under the theme, “UN at 81: Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation – A United Nations That Delivers for All”.

Delivering the keynote address, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, James Gyakye Quayson, reaffirmed Ghana’s enduring commitment to multilateralism and the principles enshrined in the Charter of the UN.

He recalled that Ghana’s engagement with the UN was shaped by the vision of its founding President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, who recognised that the country’s progress was inextricably linked to the freedom, development and well-being of other nations.