President Barack Obama plans to host his Ghanaian counterpart at the White House on Thursday, nearly three years after he visited the West African nation.
Obama visited Ghana in July 2009, where he met President John Evans Atta Mills and addressed the nation’s parliament.
Mills’ visit gives Obama a chance to reciprocate the hospitality he and the first lady got during their Ghana trip, according to the White House.
“The two leaders will have the opportunity to discuss our shared objectives in advancing development, as well as the commercial and economic ties between our two countries,” the White House said in a statement, as reported to CNN. “President Obama looks forward to discussing cooperation on a host of other bilateral, regional and multilateral issues, and deepening our bilateral partnership.
Obama’s 2009 trip was his first presidential visit to Sub-Saharan Africa.
At the time, he bypassed his father’s native Kenya and visited Ghana, which is hailed as a beacon of peace and democracy in a volatile region.
” The people of Ghana have worked hard to put democracy on a firmer footing, with repeated peaceful transfers of power even in the wake of closely contested elections,” Obama told the Ghanaian parliament during his visit. “And with improved governance and an emerging civil society, Ghana’s economy has shown impressive rates of growth.”
Last year, Obama hosted various African heads of state, including the presidents of Benin, Guinea and Niger.
