Otumfuo Osei Tutu II markets Ghana in South America

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has taken his crusade of marketing Ghana to the outside world in order to attract foreign investors into the country.

The 16th occupant of the Golden Stool, who is currently on a state visit to Suriname in South America, has taken advantage of his short stay in the country to woo businessmen to come to Ghana.

“I and my delegation are here on a friendly mission, but we are also here to explore possible areas such as business, development and investment that both Ghana and Suriname can mutually benefit from,” he stated.

According to Otumfuo, Ghana is peaceful and an investment-friendly country, blessed with good and accommodative people; hence any foreign investor that will visit Ghana to do business will succeed.

He mentioned health, tourism, mining and education, among others, as some of the possible areas that the people of Ghana and Suriname can cooperate and do business to boost the two economies.

This powerful remark was contained in a short speech delivered by the Asantehene during his meeting with the President of Suriname, His Excellency Desi Bouterse, at the presidential palace.

Most of the people in Suriname trace their lineage from West Africa, especially from Ghana and Benin, as they were transported to their current country through the slave trade, some centuries ago.

Suriname is marking its 43rd Independence Day and the country unanimously decided to invite the Asantehene, who is among the famous monarchs in the world now, to be the special guest of honour.

Continuing his address, Otumfuo said the citizens of Ghana and Suriname are one people, as the two great countries share similarities in the areas of culture, identity and ideals, among other key areas.

He said he doesn’t see why Ghana and Suriname cannot do business together to help transform the living standards of their peoples, saying his visit would open a new chapter of cooperation between the two countries.

“We have several areas of mutual interests that we can take advantage and do business together to help improve the lives of our people. Mining, education, health and tourism are areas we can do business together.

“We share similar culture, ideals and identity therefore I do not see why Ghana and Suriname cannot cooperate and do business together”, the Asantehene stated, attracting wild applause from his audience.

Sounding very positive, the Asantehene, who will be 20 years on the Golden Stool next year, stated emphatically that he has confidence that his historic visit will deepen the relationship between Ghana and Suriname.

Otumfuo’s delegation included some powerful traditional leaders in Asanteman including Nana Otuo Serebuo, the Juabenhene, who is also the Council of State Chairman and Nana Owusu Afriyie, the Apagyahene.

The Asantehene’s reign on the great Golden Stool has resulted in the massive transformation of the Asante Kingdom, especially in the areas of education, health, peace-building and several other areas.

Otumfuo’s exemplary works have compelled several top universities across the globe to confer different doctorate degrees on him to acknowledge his good works and also to spur him on to keep them up.

He has also been invited to several countries to grace their historic occasions in order to make it grand just as Suriname has done during the country’s 43rd Independence Anniversary celebrations, this year.

Significantly, Otumfuo, who is a development-oriented traditional leader, has used all his visits abroad to woo top businessmen to visit Ghana and do business; therefore his decision to woo Surinamese businessmen to visit Ghana doesn’t surprise many.