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Aliaksandr Lukashenka said he would like to find his place in what he calls the continent of the future — Africa. According to him, Belarus cannot cooperate equally with every country on the continent, but wants to find partners who can serve as reliable allies. He made the remarks during a meeting with Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama.
“Mr President, allow me to welcome you to Belarus now in your capacity as president of your country. It is a pleasure to meet with you. If I am not mistaken, you visited Belarus about two years ago and became acquainted with our country.
I do not think it will be a secret to you if I say that at the moment we are trying to determine whom we can rely on and cooperate with on the African continent.
Although we are a technologically advanced country, we are not a giant country like China or the United States that can move forward on all fronts and cooperate with every country on the African continent.
Therefore, we want to find our place on the continent of the future.
We would very much like to find friends and a strong economic foothold on the western coast of this unique natural formation known as the African continent,” he said.
Lukashenka expressed readiness to cooperate with Ghana in many areas, but said he sees agriculture as the main focus.
“Moreover, your policies are clear to us, and we are ready to cooperate with you in many fields. Despite the size of your territory, you have a huge population — 35 million or even more. You have set yourselves the noble goal of ensuring food security through the development of agriculture and, above all, agricultural mechanisation. We are an engineering nation with a developed agricultural sector, and in this respect we may be of interest to you.
For our part, we are interested in your products, and if we can help advance your interests here in Europe, you will be able to rely on Belarus. We would also be interested if you were to establish enterprises in Belarus, including joint ventures with Belarusians for processing cocoa beans and exporting those products primarily to European or Eurasian markets,” he continued.
However, agriculture is not the only key area. Lukashenka said Belarus is also prepared to offer defence industry products to Ghana.
“We are ready to cooperate with you in the field of security because we possess a fairly developed military-industrial complex. We are ready to cooperate in training military personnel.
But the philosophy of our policy around the world, and especially on the African continent, is very simple: we are ready to supply Africa with products from our industry, agriculture and services, and at the same time we are prepared to train specialists who will be able to operate this complex equipment, particularly since it is already familiar to you.
I am confident that your visit to Belarus as head of state will provide the foundation necessary to build a much deeper relationship between our countries.
If you are interested, we can significantly assist you in addressing your main task — ensuring Ghana’s food security,” he said.
For his part, Mahama thanked Lukashenka for the invitation.
“Many thanks from me personally and from the members of my delegation. Allow me to express my gratitude for the warm invitation to visit your country. Many years ago, I already understood the potential Belarus has for cooperation with the African continent,” he said.
Mahama recalled that he had visited Belarus before. According to him, he vowed at the time that if he became president, he would return on an official visit.
“Many years ago, I already understood the potential Belarus has for relations with the African continent. For this reason, I visited your country two years ago, when I was not yet president. I was impressed by the high level of development of your country and by its achievements in science and education. At that moment, I made a vow that if I won the election and became president again, I would definitely return to Belarus on an official visit. And here I am.
Africa is now rising again. This is a very different Africa. While relations between African countries and Western nations were once shaped by colonialism, today we are developing our relations on an equal footing and solely on the basis of our own interests. We are building partnerships, and Belarus is naturally a partner for our country,” he said.
The Ghanaian president acknowledged that his visit to Minsk had been met with mixed reactions at home.
“Of course, there is a huge amount of disinformation in the media today, and within that flow it is difficult to see and read about what a wonderful country Belarus is.
Many people in my country who use social media and the internet, without knowing much about Belarus, began asking online why I was travelling there and what I would be doing in Belarus.
Many members of my delegation had never visited Belarus either, and I can only imagine what they have seen with their own eyes now that they are here.
I am convinced that this visit opens a new chapter in relations between our countries,” he concluded.