Togo calls for closer health collaboration with Zambia

The President of Togo, His Excellency Faure Gnassingbé, has called for closer collaboration between Togo and Zambia in the Health sector.

Mr. Gnassingbé said Togo is also looking forward to collaborating with Zambia in the field of higher education.

President Gnassingbe said this when Zambia’s High Commissioner to Ghana with Extra Accreditation to Togo, Mr. Richard Mwanza presented Letters of Credence at a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in the Togolese capital, Lomé.

He said he was happy to have visited Zambia in 2017 and that he looked forward to the promotion of trade between the two countries in the spirit of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

And Zambia’s Ambassador to Togo on a non- residential basis Richard Mwanza told President Gnassingbé that he would work closely with the Togolese Government to ensure that the bilateral relations that exist between the two countries are further strengthened.

Mr. Mwanza said he would push for cooperation in the areas of agriculture, higher education and health sectors which should be explored further for the benefit of the two countries.

He said there was a lot of potential between the two countries to improve trade as Togo has a port while Zambia was land linked and so some Zambian goods could come through the Togolese port and enter the ECOWAS region and be exported outside Africa.

“There is need to be self-sufficient in agriculture and manage food as the continent has the potential to feed itself, and a need to manage resources in Africa as Togo is rich in mineral resources and combined efforts as Africans to manufacture goods for export”, explained Mr. Mwanza.

He said Zambia has built world class hospitals therefore, both Zambia and Togo could explore the area of medical tourism.

Mr. Mwanza said such collaboration would bring foreign exchange to the countries other than taking it out of Africa.

Mr. Mwanza said this when he presented copies of his Letters of Credence to Togolese Minister of Foreign Affairs Robert Dussey at his office in Lomé today.

This is according to a statement issued to ZANIS by First Secretary for Economics, Hellen Masongo at the Zambian Embassy in Ghana.