Former Brazilian President commends Ghana’s efforts at democracy
Former President da Silva was in the country at the invitation of the State Insurance Company (SIC) to deliver a lecture on its 50th anniversary in Accra.
He is also scheduled to hold a meeting with former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
The former Brazilian President, who is accompanied by a 15-member business delegation, is on a four-nation tour of Africa.
He has already visited Equatorial Guinea. His next port of call is Benin, after which he will go to Nigeria.
During Mr da Silva's tenure as President (2003-2010), Brazil achieved some targets of the Millennium Development Goals before the 2015 deadline. For example, it reduced by half its proportion of hungry people and reduced the percentage of Brazilians living in extreme poverty from 12 per cent in 2003 to 4.8 per cent in 2009.
He said Brazil had a successful experience in consolidating democracy, noting that the whole world was learning the lesson that it "is only in peace" that democracy could thrive.
On Brazil-Africa relations, the former Brazilian President said Brazil was committed to becoming a true partner of Africa.
He said trade relations would not be based on Brazilian requirements but centred on the African Union's standards because Brazil believed that it was about time it promoted south-south cooperation for the benefit of their people.
Former President da Silva said although he was in the country to deliver a lecture on the SIC’s 50th anniversary, he had come down with a business delegation to explore business opportunities.
Responding, President Mahama said Ghana was encouraged by the progress that Brazil made under Mr da Silva's presidency and afterwards.
He said Mr da Silva came to the presidency when Brazil faced financial challenges and indicated that his leadership "brought Brazil out of poverty".
He said due to Mr da Silva's leadership style, the Brazilian model of economic development had become a model for many African countries.
On Africa, the President said there was an African renaissance, with many countries consolidating democracy.
Besides, he said, many countries in Africa were now among the fastest growing economies in the world.
Touching on Ghana-Brazil relations, President Mahama said Ghana had several partnerships with Brazil, especially in the agricultural sector.
He said the transition of Ghana from lower middle-income status to a high middle-income economy required social and infrastructure expansion.
President Mahama said because of the financial crisis facing America and Europe, Ghana was looking for other sources of financial support, including China and Brazil.
On the SIC lecture, the President said former President da Silva was the most appropriate person to deliver that lecture.
