President John Dramani Mahama has opened a high-level Conference of Heads of Mission and Orientation Programme for newly appointed Envoys, scheduled to take place from Monday, 1st to Friday, 5th September 2025.
The conference, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is themed, “Harnessing the Dividends of Diplomacy for Ghana’s Reset Agenda.”
This key event forms part of efforts to equip Ghana’s diplomatic representatives with the tools, knowledge and strategic guidance needed to advance the country’s foreign policy priorities.
It also marks a significant step in aligning Ghana’s diplomatic missions with the government’s broader development and international cooperation agenda.
The conference also afforded President Mahama, the opportunity to also launch Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Heads of Mission, introducing a results-based framework to enhance the effectiveness of Ghana’s diplomatic engagements abroad.
In his speech, President Mahama urged the newly appointed ambassadors to project the country’s image, saying that their role goes beyond traditional diplomacy to actively driving Ghana’s economic and developmental agenda.
‘’The distinction between foreign and domestic policy has become increasingly blurry in today’s interconnected world, agreements in securing Brussels Beijing or Washington will reverberate. For this reason, economic diplomacy is now the cornerstone of Ghana’s foreign policy. Our missions must evolve into hubs of economic engagement, facilitation of trade, attractive investments and promoting innovation. I therefore charge you to promote investments in Ghana’s priority sectors, industrialization, renewable energy, digital services, agro processing, infrastructure and tourism. I charge you to expand our airports market, export markets, especially for value added goods such as processed cocoa, Shea, butter, textiles, crafts and digital services. I charge you to mobilize our diaspora, not only as emitters of money, but also as investors, innovators and partners in Ghana’s development. Your success is going to be measured not by ceremonial protocol, but by the scale of investment trade and opportunities you help secure for the people of Ghana’’.
He tasked the newly appointed envoys to manage their missions with integrity, efficiency and professionalism.
‘’Our citizens abroad must experience fairness and respect for our diplomacy. Credibility is inseparable from the credibility of our governance. Ghana’s diplomacy must continue to stand firmly in pan Africanism at ECOWAS, the African Union and the United Nations, who has remained a principled voice for justice, fairness and peace in the world, our government will continue to champion the African continental Free Trade Area agreement with headquarters in Accra, because this will serve as a foundation for Africa’s industrialization. We champion the establishment of African financial institutions to secure our sovereignty and the AIDS agenda 2063 for a peaceful, prosperous and integrated Africa must also confront our most significant existential challenge, and that is climate change. Climate change is not an abstract for Africa and for Ghana, our farmers face erratic rainfall. Coastal communities are losing their homes from carried out waves, and our forests and rivers are threatened by bushfires, and this is why climate diplomacy is also at the heart of our foreign policy. We’ll continue to advocate for climate finance, fair carbon markets’’, he said.
In the area of education, Preesident Mahama tasked the envoys to secure scholarships and training opportunities for young Ghanaians.
‘’You must forge academic and research linkages between institutions of higher learning abroad and our universities and training colleges in Ghana. You must attract technology and new innovation partnerships between our countries and the host countries where you serve. In doing so, you will help our youth to compete in the industries of the future’’.
For his part, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa indicated that the new KPI’s has been set to s high standard which according to him are intended to support the reset agenda. ‘’This is the first time in history of Ghana that ambassadors are going to work with KPI’s. It shows the ministry’s willingness to support the reset agenda’’
Story By: Eric Boateng
