Press Statement
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will meet with President Barrow and President Akufo-Addo on a two-day trip to West Africa.
The Foreign Secretary will visit The Gambia and Ghana this week on 14-15 February 2017. This is the first recorded visit to The Gambia by a Foreign Secretary. He will meet President Barrow of The Gambia and President Akufo-Addo of Ghana to discuss the key opportunities and challenges facing each country. The Foreign Secretary will say Global Britain and its partnerships are growing, not shrinking, around the world as demonstrated by the Commonwealth’s strength.
In The Gambia in addition to meeting with President Barrow he will visit the UK-funded Medical Research Council and speak to Chevening scholars and employees and employers in the tourism industry – a huge employer in the country.
In Ghana the Foreign Secretary will visit the award-winning Blue Skies company, meet business leaders and young entrepreneurs supported by the Department for International Development’s ENGINE project, and meet with “Rising Black Stars” highlighting both countries’ extensive cultural ties.
Ahead of the visit, the Foreign Secretary said:
I’m delighted to be the first Foreign Secretary to visit Gambia this week and delighted to have a chance to meet the newly elected President Barrow and President Akufo-Addo of Ghana. Their elections highlight the continuing strengthening of democracy in West Africa.
I am also very pleased that Gambia wants to rejoin the Commonwealth and we will ensure this happens in the coming months. The strength of our partnerships show that Global Britain is growing in influence and activity around the world.
