US embassy cable - 04ACCRA1199

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 001199 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/07/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, GH 
SUBJECT: SUGGESTED POINTS FOR POWELL/KUFUOR MEETING 
 
REF: A. ABIDJAN 1302 
     B. ACCRA 1171 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Richard Kaminski, reason 1.5 (B/D). 
 
 
 1.  (C)  Mission proposes the following points for use by 
Secretary Powell in his June 11 meeting with President 
 
SIPDIS 
Kufuor.  We recommend a supportive message, which 
acknowledges the Kufuor government's leading role in working 
toward peace in the sub-region, particularly Cote d'Ivoire 
and Liberia, and asks for his counsel on next steps.  We also 
recommend noting our pleasure in Ghana's selection for the 
MCA, while indicating that solid proposals for access to the 
MCA funds, and further progress on the business climate and 
good governance, are necessary. 
 
2.  (C) Cote d'Ivoire 
 
President Kufuor and his administration have expended 
considerable effort in addressing the crisis in Cote 
d'Ivoire.  Last year's Accra II meeting breathed new life 
into the Linus-Marcoussis Accords, and Kufuor and Foreign 
Minister Akufo-Addo continue to consult widely in attempting 
to preserve the peace process. The GOG continues to believe 
that LMA is the proper basis for a resolution to the crisis, 
although adjustments to various provisions to improve 
implementation are probably needed.  As Head of ECOWAS, and 
the President of a neighboring state with a large expatriate 
community in Cote d'Ivoire, Kufuor has successfully 
functioned as an honest broker, and should be commended for 
his continuing efforts. 
 
-- We were disturbed to see the proposed mini-summit in Abuja 
on June 3 fall through.  Your government's effort to 
encourage compromise and positive solutions are laudable and 
valuable. 
 
-- The general feeling here is that Cote d'Ivoire is at a 
potentially dangerous impasse  -- neither Gbagbo nor the G7 
opposition parties appear very willing to make concessions 
toward resuming business as a true government of national 
unity. 
 
-- Can we ask you what you hoped to accomplish in the Abuja 
meeting? 
 
--   What sort of forum do you envisage for such discussions 
on the proper inplementation of LMA, and what solutions would 
you propose to further that implementation? 
 
3.  (C) Liberia 
 
Ghana hosted the peace conference last summer that led to the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the setting up of the 
National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL).  Ghana 
maintains its troop deployment in Liberia under the UN PKO, 
and Foreign Minister Akufo-Addo travels regularly to the Mano 
River Union area, including Monrovia, to assess the 
situation.  The Ghanaian ambassador to Monrovia, Kwame 
Amoa-Awua, is an experienced and sensible diplomat with close 
ties to the Kufuor administration.  The GOG generally shares 
USG views that while much progress has been achieved, much 
remains to be done. 
 
-- May I first commend you once again for your leadership as 
ECOWAS Chairman on Liberia.  Without Ghana's close 
involvement in the peace process, the international community 
might not have been successful in staging a PKO, removing 
Charles Taylor and setting up an interim government. 
 
-- Can we have your assessment on the situation in Liberia? 
How well do you think the National Transitional Government of 
Liberia (NTGL) is functioning? 
 
-- Can the NTGL keep to the October 2005 timeline for 
elections? 
 
-- We know that Interim Chairman Bryant made an impassioned 
plea on the lifting of sanctions on Liberia to the UNSC June 
3.  What is your position on remaining sanctions? 
 
4.  (C) MCA 
 
Ghana is one of five West African nations to qualify for the 
Millenium Challenge Account.  The MCC team arrived in Accra 
on June 6, and will have a wide variety of meetings with 
senior GOG officials, businessmen, members of NGOs and other 
donors.  The GOG sees its selection as yet another 
affirmation both of its close relationship with the US and 
its reformist programs. 
 
-- May I offer our congratulations on Ghana's selection for 
the MCA.  While our embassy in Accra and we here in the State 
Department worked hard for Ghana's inclusion, the Millenium 
Challenge Corporation is an autonomous entity, and Ghana 
objectively qualified for the program. 
 
-- I know the MCC team has just been in Accra, and is having 
a very positive series of meetings with your government and 
with your NGO and business community. 
 
-- You have cleared the first and most important hurdle -- 
selection for the program.  Now comes the second hurdle: the 
framing of sensible projects the MCC can support. 
 
-- Proposals based upon your government's ability to address 
economic growth and reduce poverty, as well as accentuate 
accountability and good governance, will be welcomed. 
 
-- What sectors do you see being the basis for your proposals? 
 
5.  (C) Positive Business Climate 
 
Ghana does not score as highly on evaluations of its business 
climate as other aspects of its reform program, particularly 
receptivity to foreign-owned businesses and foreign 
investment.  Partly this is due to inexperience in dealing in 
a modern business climate.  Ghana also has a long history of 
extensive government oversight of and involvement in the 
private sector -- the government, either directly or through 
parastatals, still owns or controls large segments of key 
industries (railroads, ports, electricity generation and 
distribution, the national airline, water supplies, the cocoa 
market, etc).  We find its policy direction to be sound, but 
it begins from a different stage of economic well-being and 
perception of the government's organizing role. 
 
-- Receptivity to foreign businesses and foreign investment 
is the key to any "Golden Age of Business."  What are your 
plans to streamline your procedures to attract foreign 
investors and foreign businessmen? 
 
-- There is a perception in the international marketplace 
that Ghana is not as welcoming as it could be.  Ghana can 
expand its base of interested investors and build a better 
economic future by working with those investors in a 
collaborative and mutually-reinforcing manner. 
 
-- Your upcoming Trade Fair in Atlanta in September in an 
opportunity to put your best foot forward, and display for 
the American business community a renewed receptivity to them. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Yates