African leaders can overcome obstacles – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan Monday in Abuja called on African leaders
to take more concrete steps towards fulfilling their often declared
commitment to improving trade and economic relations amongst African
countries and that with the right will and commitment African leaders
can overcome obstacles.
Speaking with the outgoing Namibian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mrs.
Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, President Jonathan said that there was an
urgentneed for African leaders to move beyond declarations of support
for greater intra-African trade and act in unison to overcome
obstacles which currently hinder economic relations between the
nations and people of the continent.
President Jonathan said that with the right political will and
commitment, African leaders could speedily overcome all obstacles to
intra-African trade such as poor transportation links and achieve a
significant boost in continental economic interaction for the benefit
of their countries and peoples.
The President pledged that Nigeria will continue to spearhead and
support efforts aimed at promoting regional and continental economic
integration, saying that existing cordial political relations between
most African countries will be further enhanced by greater trade and
economic relations amongst them.
He commended Mrs. Ashipala-Musavyi for working diligently to boost
bilateral relations between Nigeria and Namibia during her tenure as
High Commissioner in Abuja and wished hersuccess at her new post in
the Namibian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
President Jonathan similarly commended Ghana's outgoing High
Commissioner to Nigeria, Alhaji Baba Kamara whom he also received at
the Presidential Villa on Monday.
Noting that bilateral relations between Nigeria and Ghana have
beenfurther strengthened in several areas during Alhaji Kamara's
four-year tenure, President expressed the hope that the outgoing High
Commissioner's successor will continue his good work.
"We must continue to build and strengthen the cordial relations
between us. We are the same people and colonial boundaries must not be
allowed to keep us apart," President Jonathan told Alhaji Kamara.
According to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, of the over 200
projects registered by it last year, Nigeria had 42 projects with a
value of almost $200 million U.S. Dollars. Only China accounted for
more registered projects in Ghana during the period with 56 projects.