In a bid to deepen its bilateral ties with Ghana, the government of Finland has opened a consulate in Accra.
This will help in advancing the interests of the Finish community and businesses in the country.
It also appointed a Ghanaian lawyer and entrepreneur, Professor Elikem Nutifafa Kuenyehia, who is also a Professor of Practice at the Faculty of Business, Humanities and Social Science of the University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom as the honourary consulate.
Recall that since the early 1960s, the Embassy of Finland has been based in Abuja, providing consular services to applicants from Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Benin and The Gambia.
The consulate would not be issuing visas since that was being handled by the Danish Embassy in Accra.
The consulate will assist Finland to build bridges between the two countries in trade, education, sanitation, energy, digitalisation and other areas of cooperation, while advancing the interests of the Finnish community in Ghana.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the official opening of the consulate in Accra, the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria, Ghana, Benin and Liberia, Leena Pylvänäinen announced that Ghana is Finland’s number one trading partner in West Africa.
She said the two countries enjoyed excellent bilateral relations and saw a lot of potential to expand their cooperation further, especially in energy and digitalisation, circular economy, and education and vocational training.
Ms Pylvänäinen indicated that over the past few years, the political and economic cooperation has both broadened and deepened and has picked up speed.
” Finland and Ghana share the same priorities in multilateral cooperation and commitment to the promotion of peace and security, democracy and human rights, and the strong support for the UN system and international law,” she said.
