High Commissioner Florence Akonor advocates for deeper collaboration with ASEAN countries

By Chris Koney

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand – in collaboration with 12 African embassies accredited to Thailand, including Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Mozambique, Ghana, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Botswana and South Africa as well as key public and private sector players, including Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines – organised the maiden edition of ‘The Colours of Africa 2024’.

Held at the Central World in Bangkok, Thailand from September 9-11, 2024, the cultural event sought to promote awareness and better understanding of Africa among the Thai population, deepen sustainable cooperation, opportunities for trade and investment between Thailand and Africa as well as increase people-to-people contact between Africans and the people of Thailand.

The main activities of the event included a painting and quiz competition for Junior High Schools students, exhibition booths of African Embassies, African airlines, Thai hotels in Africa, African food and beverage exhibitors, African music and cultural performances, Thai-African Fashion Show, African Ambassador Talks and lucky draws of air tickets and accommodation in Africa sponsored by Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and Minor Hotels.

The Ghanaian contingent at ‘The Colours of Africa 2024’ was led by  Florence Buerki Akonor, Ghana’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, with concurrent accreditation to nine other countries, including Thailand, with support from the Honorary Consul of Ghana in Thailand – Dr. Sicha Singsomboon. Three officials of the Ghana Export -Import Bank (GEXIM) were also part of the Ghanaian team.

On the sidelines of the event, I had the opportunity to interact with High Commissioner Akonor on Ghana’s participation in ‘The Colours of Africa 2024’, bilateral relations between Ghana and Thailand and her nine other accredited countries. We further discussed the importance of forming a strategic alliance with countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) based on our copious similarities.

High Commissioner Akonor has been a diplomat for the last 28 years, playing diverse roles. She served as Head of Chancery at Ghana’s High Commission in New Delhi, Assistant Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and was assigned as Minister-Counsellor at Ghana Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

After that, she served as Deputy Director before becoming a Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and then assigned as Minister at Ghana High Commission in Ottawa, Canada. From Ottawa, she was assigned as Minister at Ghana High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa then returned to the ministry as Director.

She was posted to the Ghana Embassy in Paris, France where she served as Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative to The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In October 2022, she was appointed as Ghana’s High Commissioner to Malaysia.

Commenting on ‘The Colours of Africa 2024’, she expressed her excitement seeing not only members of the diplomatic corps, but representatives of international organisations, high ranking officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, representatives from the Thai public and private sectors as well as the members of the media in participation.

As a High Commissioner accredited to ten ASEAN with a bird’s-eye view of developments within the region, she is convinced we need to focus on building strategic partnership with ASEAN countries.

“As I go about my duties, travelling to the various countries I am accredited to, exploring opportunities and building stronger ties, I realised that as a country, we have not developed any policy toward ASEAN countries over the years.

Considering the enormous knowledge and innovation across various sectors across the ASEAN region and in the spirit of south-south cooperation, I think it will be very important for us to place a priority on our relations with countries in the region. I have no doubt this could be a game-changer for us in our drive for economic growth and development,” she emphasised.

According to the High Commissioner, she had the opportunity to discuss our current relations and explore ways of strengthening economic and commercial relations between Ghana and Southeast Asian countries of interest with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the recently held second Indonesia-Africa Forum (IAF) in Bali, Indonesia on September 2, 2024.

ASEAN members are Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Cambodia. With a market size of US$2.3trillion and 600 million people, they aim to achieve a single integrated market through the process of regional economic integration. The ASEAN region provides several opportunities for Ghana which was acknowledged by the President, according to the High Commissioner.

“The President was excited about the conversation and agreed with me that we are at a point where we have to consider focusing our energies on the ASEAN region and form some strategic partnerships. ASEAN countries have been where we are, and understand us better.

Some of the members of ASEAN have engaged with the IMF before and have managed to come out of their predicaments, so we can learn from them. With their activities as a region, we can also replicate some of their best practices for ECOWAS,” she added.

Buttressing her point for an increased engagement with ASEAN countries, the High Commissioner suggested the development of a framework which will see us benefitting from them not necessarily financially, but in key strategic areas such as technology, innovation and best practices.

“I realised that most of the clothes we buy from the United States are made in Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines; so we can have a programme to send some of our Ghanaian dressmakers and other professionals to these countries to learn more about the entire value chain when it comes to fashion. We have only scratched the surface of our relations and there is more to gain from the ASEAN countries,” she further explained.

In drawing a policy for ASEAN countries which will help us to achieve maximum benefit from ASEAN countries, High Commissioner Akonor suggested that we identify the strengths of each country and areas of common interest where we can tap into their expertise to build the capacity of Ghanaians, transfer of knowledge and technology, machinery, skill development and their best practices.

>>>the writer is a thought leader in Marketing Communications, Stakeholder Relationship Management Professional and International Cooperation Specialist. Over the last 15 years, he has made tremendous impact within Africa’s corporate communications and creative arts sectors. He can be reached at [email protected]/ 233 20 854 1480

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