Brazil and Ghana have had diplomatic relations dating as far back as the 1960s, a point that Brazil’s ambassador to Ghana, HE Irene Vida Gala, says must not be lost on both countries as the two have reached a new turn in their relationship where a lot more of Brazil is being seen in Ghana through its construction and other companies.
It is also against the backdrop of Brazil’s new international status as one of the BRICS countries. And of course, the opportunity of hosting the World Cup tournament this year makes Brazil even more outstanding in terms of gaining the headlines.
“When we talk about our relations, we must acknowledge the fact that Brazil and Ghana have very good dialogue in political terms; we find common ground to share positions on international issues that are important,” Gala says.
These shared positions find expression on security issues at the UN and in WTO negotiations, in terms of the interests of developing countries, among others.
To the ambassador, what is happening currently on the business front; “just mirrors what we’re already seeing in the political arena.”
“I know many say that, Brazil and Ghana share the same friends and that makes us feel comfortable wherever we meet, because we are probably going to meet other friends,” Gala says, stressing that it is important since it leads to both trusting each other.
“This is something I have been stressing in my work here; that good friends think alike,” Gala quips.
To deepen and broaden the already genial bond, Gala believes social engagements between the two must be intensified.
“So one of the areas I have been working on, these almost three years that I have been around is, for instance, in academic and educational cooperation,” she points out.
Gala notes that some three years ago, There were no Ghanaian students going to Brazil universities; “even though we had some agreements of cooperation and for scholarships.
Though this programme of scholarships has been going on for decades with Ghana, for 10 years, Brazil had not received anybody.
“Last year we sent seven people and this year we’re sending 28 people, to study in Brazilian institutions of higher learning,” Gala disclosed adding; “of course, this also shows an improved interest in Ghanaians wanting to send their children to, maybe, a new perspective of development.
“We have the same weaknesses, but of course in different proportions; our population is about 200 million and Ghana has just a little over 10% of that. We also have a much bigger territory, our GDPs also vary, but when we see the challenges; IMF for instance, we used to be under IMF control, Ghana went through that not too long ago; we also now have to face the issue of the currencies, how the cedi is going through its current problems, if you look at the issue with our Brazilian currency, it’s the same so I think all these make the opportunity of studying in Brazil quite interesting for Ghanaians,” Gala observes.
But she believes that, more importantly, Brazil has, on the social front, been making some strides that would be of immense interest to Ghanaians; “for instance, in the area of social development, Brazil has been doing a lot of things. When it comes to Ghana, the only few people who have been trained in the social sciences, seem to be uncomfortable working with people in very poor communities.
“Another aspect is when re-allocating stalls to market people, for instance. In Brazil, we do this quite frequently; we have handled the situation quite well so these aspects can be very relevant when it comes to the dialogue between our two countries, much more beyond economics. Economics is just a small part of the relationship and, though it’s very relevant to Brazil and also very relevant to Ghana, it doesn’t encompass all our relationship,” Gala notes.
She stresses that the relationship with Ghana dates way back and was largely a political relationship though there were some economic links as well. But not the type of presence that says; “look I’m here and I want you to recognise that I’m here.”
“We don’t have this intention or the capacity to come and establish our bases to be recognised as a major economic power; that’s not our intention, and with the coming in of the Pacific Alliance (comprising Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru) it’s refreshing for Brazil..
When we talk, for instance, about a country like Chile, they also had political coups in their history and these reflect in their current history, just like Ghana’s.
“But when you listen to some Ghanaians, they often make reference to Malaysia; why it is in the position it is now and why Ghana is how it is. But they don’t look at Chile, which is also a country that’s made big strides in economic development.
So for Gala, Latin America offers a broader spectrum of partners that Ghana can interact with and work with.
But much as engagement on the social front is at the core of Gala’s mission, it is not lost on her that a richer dialogue on the economic front would also yield great benefits to both countries.
She says, in that regard, the construction industry is; “definitely a pillar that our mutual relations can be built on.”
“Here in Ghana, what we see are the construction companies with a lot of experience in the international market. We have Queiroz Galvao, which is now doing the Kwame Nkrumah Circle interchange and I hope when the first results come out we would recognise that it’s really a road of good standards,” she says. Gala notes that most of the works that have been done here are based on official loans or some public loans. In terms of private investments of the companies, the numbers are not very significant.
“But what we see from other experiences from abroad is that these companies have built the capacity to do business. When they come in, they learn how to lead in the environment, they create the mix and then they start expanding their activities with their own investments and that is what we intend and hope will happen In Ghana,” she says.
Another sector with immense potential for cooperation is agriculture, Gala believes.
“At the Ghana Economic Forum recently, I realized that Ghana faces one major challenge, which is very much like what we can witness in Brazil.
“When you have the opportunity of making agriculture a major project in your country, everybody looks to the big business of agriculture. And that is what is happening in Brazil, but then at the same time, to become a major producer of agricultural products, you will start having problems of smallholder farmers becoming landless people because the plots of land will have to be sold by the smallholder to the big farmers, international farmers. Ghana now is on the threshold of this situation,” Gala explains.
Based on the Brazilian experience, she says if you go for the one you may come with very serious challenges for the other. In Brazil, in a matter of just two years, there were over 1,100 people killed due to some types of conflict and social unrest, in those new areas called agricultural frontiers, where this situation occurred
“What did we do in Brazil? The government created two different ministries; one that is the Ministry of Agriculture handles major farming for export crops, and another, the Ministry of Agrarian Development, which looked at the smallholder farmer.
“This is an area where we can share experiences; it goes beyond selling tractors and things like that,” Gala explains.
“But of course, we are also discussing with the government of Ghana, some concessional loans for agricultural equipment, almost US$100 million worth of agricultural equipment, to be made available to smallholder farmers.
“Since it is a concessional agreement, the understanding from the Brazilian side is that, it should be used on the needs of the smallholder farmers; but of course, it will be for the Ghanaian government to decide what they want to do,” Gala says.
“Now, in Brazil, about 70% to 80% of what we eat comes from the production of smallholder farmers, so our food security and the fact that we took 30 million people out of poverty with them, having access to meat, milk, more protein, animal protein, more of the right group of staples, makes a strong case for supporting the smallholder farmer to produce for domestic consumption,” Gala says.
Some 40 years ago, Brazil was in a situation like Ghana, Gala observed. “We used to export four raw products. And 80% of these products were not being beneficiated in Brazil, so value-addition was just 20%. 40 years later, we have about 20 products that we export. Now we do at least 60% of value addition and less than 20% is exported in raw form.
On trade and investments, recent developments in Ghana offer opportunities for the two countries to engage at a deeper level.
”I tell people in Brazil that this is an opportunity for investment, because it’s clear that Ghana will not be importing forever.
“In this we’re working hard to forge partnerships with Ghanaian counterparts for investments in Ghana,” Gala says.
At a certain stage, trade was worth over US$400 million between the two countries; “now we are below that. We lost the threshold of US$400 million,” Gala says.
Sugar and chicken that historically are the two major Brazilian export products to Ghana, have been declining in volumes and new products are getting into the Ghanaian market signifying a diversification of Brazilian exports.
“I think that for Ghana also it is good because it means Ghana is producing its own chicken and importing less,” Gala says.
The challenge to the balance of trade between the two however has to do with what Ghana can export to Brazil.
“There is an interesting story; we produce mango and Ghana produces mango but they are exactly the opposite seasons, what we were, and are still, working on is that Brazil has the market for mangoes but we don’t produce all year round, so it’s about creating the capacity in Ghana to supply our market for the other part of the year.
“Another area is in cashew. Ghanaians don’t drink the juice; they don’t use the apple, just the nut. In Brazil we take a lot of cashew juice.
“We have one major Brazilian company here to beneficiate the cashew nut, to export not to Brazil, but the non-Brazilian market because now our production is coming down. But because we have our culture of consuming cashew juice, the same group working with the nuts, is bringing in another group to process the juice and send to Brazil,” Gala disclosed
Gala thinks numerous opportunities exist to attract Brazilian investments into Ghana but Ghanaian business people would also have to proactively engage the Brazilian business community.
“I normally say that the relations between Ghana and Brazil would have to be looked at this way; we engage the Ghanaians, but the Ghanaians will also have to do their work. They will have to go to Brazil and try to understand the needs of their counterparts.
“Brazilian investors coming to Ghana could be looking for something other than just producing; let’s say access to the West African region. So it’s about what Ghanaians can offer Brazilians; something attractive, like a common market with the products that they make. Let’s say, for instance, poultry produced in Ghana is accessible to the whole West African region.
But outside the economic sphere, Gala thinks Ghana has a lot to offer Brazil.
“I would say Ghanaians have a lot to offer in terms of support in our national effort to fight racism in Brazil, and in terms of integration. Countries like Ghana are a role model in terms of democracy and social integration.
“We’re more than 60% of black origin but we still have to overcome the period of our history which made the blacks in Brazil just a separate part. Now they’re integrating and they are gaining space and I think Ghanaians can help us with that.
“So we want Ghana to do well because this will be seen by the Brazilians as a reference; a very positive reference. But this has to be part of the whole picture of economics, politics, culture, as well as the social aspect of our relations,” Gala says.