The visit of the Ghana Road and Highway Minister, Mr. Kwasi Amoako-Atta along with his deputy, Mr. Anthony Abayifa Karbo, accompanied by representatives of Ghana's Finance Ministry and numerous parliamentary delegates, contributed to further improving bilateral relations between Ghana and the Czech Republic and should support the realization of a significant infrastructure project in Ghana by Czech companies.

On the first day of his visit on 25 June 2018, Minister Atta was received by the first Deputy Minister of Transport of the Czech Republic, Ing.Tomáš Čoček, Ph.D. Minister Atta and Deputy Čoček expressed their interest to cooperate in the dynamic development of Ghana and to participate in infrastructure projects using Czech investments, technology and experience. Minister Atta mentioned in particular the project of the tram system for the cities of Accra and Kumasi and the construction of bridges as part of infrastructure building.

On June 26, 2018, Minister Atta met in the morning with Deputy Minister of Industry of the Czech Republic, Ing. Vladimir Bärtl. At the beginning of the meeting, Deputy Bärtl emphasized mutual relations between Czechoslovakia and Ghana, which began to develop actively because of the similar political orientation of both countries immediately after Ghana's independence in 1957. He also stressed that the Czech Republic is a modern and open economy with a high share of gross domestic product, which originates mainly from exports. Minister Atta underlined the importance of the Czech Republic's trade partnership with the Ghanaian Republic and said that Ghana is currently led by an ambitious political cabinet that would like to introduce Ghana's "one district = one factory" strategy, whether it be energy, transport or other industrial sectors. Minister Atta described infrastructure as one of the most important industrial sectors to which the Ghanaian government will focus now and in the future. Deputy Bärtl stressed in response that Czech companies could offer high quality products, technologies and expertise in this area.

Subsequently, the Czech and Ghanaian delegations, including Deputy Bärtl and Minister Atta, took up the opening of the Czech-Ghana Business Forum, attended by an estimated 150 representatives of Czech companies, associations and chambers of commerce. After the introductory speech of Deputy Bärtl, were the visitors informed by Minister Atta about the infrastructure projects and opportunities they could share with the Ghana partners. The Czech Ambassador in Ghana, Mrs. Margita Fuchsová, mentioned afterwards the importance of bridge projects in terms of other activities of Czech companies in the cultivation of the Ghana agricultural fund, which is managed by only about 10% due to poor accessibility. The official part was followed by roughly 2 hours of B2B talks.

On 27 June 2018, Minister Atta and his delegation visited MCE Slaný s.r.o., a supplier of bridge components for the project of 200 pieces of small and medium-sized steel bridges for Ghana, implemented by the Czech company Knights a.s., which secured the financing of the project at ČSOB. Given the limited financial resources of Ghana, pilot phases will be implemented in the number of 50 bridges and in the coming years, it is expected to realize the remaining number. The project is in line with the medium to long-term government vision that seeks easy access to agricultural land and links communities to promote mutual trade and commodity exchange in Ghana. The aim of MCE's visit was to convince the Ministry of Road and Highways of quality and supplier references, assure the provision of post-warranty service and the training of service personnel.

On the penultimate day of the visit, Minister Atta, together with representatives of the Ministry of Finance, met with representatives of the ČSOB bank and the insurance company EGAP in order to clarify the financing conditions and guarantees of the bridge project.

In the evening, June 28, 2018, the reception to end the visit of Minister Atta in the Czech Republic was held at the headquarters of the Knights Inc. The Minister highly appreciated this visit, admission to the Ministry of Transport and Industry of the Czech Republic, a bid to cooperate and provide hospitality. He stressed that this visit is launching a new phase of cooperation between the Czech Republic and Ghana.

In the case of realization of this project, it will be the successful completion of long-term activities and lobbying of representatives of the Czech embassy in Ghana, representatives of KNIGHTS Ghana and a team led by the Ghanaian Minister of Roads and Highways.

Tomáš Zázvorka, Commercial Counselor, Embassy of the Czech Republic in Accra