President John Dramani Mahama has urged Japan to scale up its economic partnership with Ghana, with a focus on cocoa value addition, major infrastructure, and closer cultural cooperation.
He made the appeal during bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the sidelines of the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) in Yokohama.
Mahama emphasized Ghana’s critical role in Japan’s cocoa supply chain, noting that the country provides nearly 70 percent of Japan’s imports.
He called for Japanese investment and a public–private partnership with the Cocoa Processing Company to expand local processing capacity.
“I met with the Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to advance Ghana–Japan cooperation in three key areas: Cocoa and value addition, Strategic infrastructure and People-to-people ties. With Ghana supplying about 70% of Japan’s cocoa imports, we invited Japanese investment and a PPP with the Cocoa Processing Company to revamp the plant and deepen processing in Ghana,” Mahama stated.
The President also pressed for additional funding support for the Volivo Bridge project over the Volta Lake. Japan had previously committed JPY 11.239 billion in 2016, but Mahama said a 64 percent financing gap remains.
He described the project as essential for transporting agricultural produce, especially yams and maize, from northern Ghana to the south.
The two leaders also looked ahead to key 2027 milestones, including the centenary of Dr. Hideyo Noguchi’s arrival in Ghana, the 60th anniversary of Ghana–Japan diplomatic relations, and 50 years of Japanese volunteer service in the country.
Mahama expressed gratitude for Japan’s consistent support through TICAD in areas such as health, education, and infrastructure, while reaffirming Ghana’s commitment to work with Japan on multilateral issues, including UN Security Council reform.
Japan, in turn, signaled readiness to deepen trade and investment ties but urged Ghana to improve the business climate for Japanese companies.
