Ayorkor Botchwey engages with G7 Foreign Ministers on security issues

Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, has engaged with the G7 foreign ministers on existential threats posed by the restive Sahel Region and the wider security implications it presents.

Their meeting also centered on current geopolitical challenges, with reference to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and its impact on world trade, supply chains, energy, and the resilience of democratic institutions in the face of emerging threats to the rule-based global order among other issues of mutual interest.

Madam Botchwey was invited with her counterpart from Kenya and the Chair of the African Union (AU) to participate in the Outreach Session of the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting held from November 3 – 4 in Munster, Germany.

The meeting, hosted by Germany under its tenure as President of the G7, had in attendance all foreign ministers from the G7 Group – Germany, United States, Italy, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, France and the European Union.

Also on the agenda was the security situation in the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa as well as the recent peace accord brokered over the conflict between the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray Rebels, and how to practically implement the terms of the ceasefire to avoid a relapse to the status quo ante.

The stakeholders deliberated on efforts to tackle the climate crisis and food and energy security because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and proffered suggestions on how to resolve them with a concerted effort.

Madam Botchwey, who took the opportunity to hold bilateral talks with her counterparts from Japan, the US, Germany, UK and Canada on the margins of the meeting, discussed multilateral cooperation in the light of Ghana’s tenure as Chair of the United Nations (UN) Security Council for the month of November, 2022.

She briefed them on the progress of the Accra Initiative and efforts to employ its collaborative security mechanism to prevent infiltration and a spill-over of the activities of terrorist elements from the Sahel into coastal states on the Gulf of Guinea.