President Pranab Mukherjee arrives in Ghana on two-day visit

President Pranab Mukherjee touched down in Accra, Ghana, on Sunday evening, on the first leg of his six-day three-nation state visit that would include visits to Cote d'Ivoire and Namibia as well.

Carrying the presidential entourage, Air India One touched down in rainy weather at Accra's Kotoka International Airport at 3.45 pm local time after an approximately nine-and-a-half-hour-long flight.

The president was received by Ghana's Vice President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, senior Ghanaian government officials and Indian High Commission officials.

The ceremonial reception at the airport included a group of Ghanaian dancers- male and female- performing some of their traditional and popular dances and drum beats. School children from select schools in Ghana were also present on the occasion waving the national flags of Ghana and India.

The drive into the city centre was also smooth with streets lined with poles carrying the flags of the two countries and some flags pinned onto massive tree trunks.

During his two-day state visit to Ghana, the first by an Indian Head of State, the president will hold talks with his Ghanaian counterpart John Dramani Mahama on issues of bilateral, regional and multilateral relevance to the two countries.

This visit will include attending a state banquet hosted by President Dramani Mahama on Sunday evening; attending delegation -level talks and the signing of bilateral agreements and addressing the business community on Monday.

President Mukherjee will pay his respects at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum; unveil a statue of Mahatma Gandhi and also address faculty and students at the University of Ghana, also on Monday.

On Tuesday, he will visit the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence before departing for Cote D' Iviore on the second leg of his official visit.

Indian Investments in Ghana are substantial and amount to nearly three billion dollars in various sectors, and trade between both the countries has gone up three times in the last three years. India's exports to Ghana were $680.39 million in fiscal 2014-15 and $502.65 million between April 2015 and January 2016. Major exports include pharmaceuticals, agricultural machinery, transport vehicles, electrical equipment, plastics, iron and steel, beverages and spirits, cereals, made-up textiles and self-propelled heavy machinery.

India imports gold, cocoa nuts, timber products, aluminum waste and scrap, ferrous waste and scrap, cashew, coconut, Brazil nuts, cocoa beans and paste and oil seeds etc. Total Indian investments in Ghana are an estimated to be $1.02 billion over the past two decades.

The estimated number of Indians living in Ghana is about 10,000 persons, out of which about 3000 hold foreign nationalities. Some of these NRIs have established a base in Ghana stretching to over 70 years.

The President's visit to Ghana is expected to open up new opportunities of cooperation between the two countries.