SUGGESTED POINTS FOR POWELL/KUFUOR MEETING

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