The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has, in principle, agreed to a request by the Prime Minister of Barbados, to send some three hundred and seventy-five Ghanaian nurses to Barbados to work in a number of their government medical facilities.
This came to the fore when President Akufo-Addo and Prime Minister Mottley held bilateral talks on Friday, 14th June, 2019, in Bridgetown, Barbados, after the Ghanaian leader paid a day’s working visit to that country.
Addressing a press conference in the aftermath of the bilateral discussions, and with Barbados facing an acute nursing shortage, the Barbadian Prime Minister Hon. Mia Amor Mottley stated that, Barbadian Government is searching for just under 400 nurses to fill the pores left in the health sector, noting that, there was also an initial promise to secure the nurses, and provide joint education programmes going forward, all in an attempt to secure Barbados’ healthcare sector.
On his part, President Akufo-Addo revealed that there are excess nurses in Ghana who will be deployed to help the health sector in Barbados.
With President Akufo-Addo being the first leader of Ghana to visit Barbados, the two leaders agreed to reactivate a 2005 cultural, technical and scientific agreement signed between the two countries, an agreement which has been dormant for 14 years.
The discussions also touched on tourism and transportation, with Ghana and Barbados agreeing to work on an air services agreement, which will establish direct air links between the two countries, so as to boost trade and people-to-people contact.
Akufo-Addo expressed Ghana’s desire to collaborate with Barbados, a country which is giant in that field, and reiterated Ghana’s commitment to increase the renewable energy component of her energy generation mix.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo expressed his commitment to the establishment of an Honorary Consulate in Barbados, with Barbados set to establish a High Commission in Accra by the end of 2019.
