First ever Seychelles ambassador accredited to Ghana and Uganda |18 August 2015

High commissioner (HC) Joseph Nourrice, Seychelles’ resident ambassador in Ethiopia and permanent representative to the African Union, has become the first Seychelles high commissioner to be accredited to Ghana and Uganda.

HC Nourrice presented his credentials to the President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, in a ceremony on August 11, 2015.

In his opening remarks, HC Nourrice conveyed the fraternal greetings of President James Michel and the people of Seychelles to President Mahama, and expressed his joy at being the first ever Seychelles high commissioner to Ghana.

During the bilateral meeting the high commissioner and President Mahama traced the strong historical ties that exist between Ghana and Seychelles beginning with the exile of King Prempeh of the Ashanti to Seychelles for 24 years.

HC Nourrice noted that this historic link demonstrates the profound people to people relationship that exists between the two states, especially as some of the descendants of the late King still live in Seychelles.

The discussion focused on the numerous areas of cooperation of which five agreements have already been signed and a number of those identified are in the pipeline to be explored.

“The identification of several other areas on which to strengthen and broaden our cooperation is an indication of how seriously our two countries are nurturing this relationship,” said the high commissioner.

In this respect, the high commissioner further noted that the Seychelles-Ghana relationship had, as a result, taken a very significant turn with the official visit of the Ghanaian foreign minister in March 2014 and the high profile visit of His Majesty King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II who was the guest of honour at the fifth Carnaval International de Victoria earlier this year.

President Mahama reassured the high commissioner of the full support of his office to bring relations between the two countries to the aspired level.

In conclusion, the high commissioner also spoke and commended the cooperation at the multilateral level and more specifically to components of Agenda 2063 relating to maritime and ocean economy [Blue economy] and the Tourism Strategy at which Ghana been a very active collaborator.

Earlier this year on May 26, Ambassador Nourrice also presented his credentials to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of the Republic of Uganda in a ceremony held at the State House in Entebbe, making him the first ever high commissioner of Seychelles to Uganda.

President Museveni and the high commissioner exchanged views on a wide range issues – political, social and economic, including the maritime space – looking forward to strengthening the bilateral relations between Seychelles and Uganda.

The non-resident high commissioner also took the opportunity to convey to President Museveni the sincere thanks and appreciation of President James Michel for the support given to Seychelles’ bid for a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council for the period 2017-2018.

The resident ambassador in Ethiopia also took the opportunity to discuss with high officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs various areas of bilateral and also cooperation and collaboration at multilateral level.