Albares and his counterpart from Ghana highlight Nico Williams, “bridge between our countries”

The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, received yesterday in Madrid his counterpart from the Republic of Ghana, Shirley Ayorkor Bootchwey, with whom he addressed cooperation, the migration issue and the challenges in West Africa and remembered the Spanish footballer Nico Williams, “bridge between our countries.”
“In Madrid with my counterpart from Ghana, Shirley Ayorkor Bootchwey,” Albares declared through the social network X. During the meeting, which took place at the ministerial headquarters of the Viana Palace, both ministers promoted “cooperation, including migrations,” and addressed “the challenges in West Africa, a priority region,” he continued.
“We have signed a sports agreement and applauded the play of Nico Williams in the Spanish soccer team, a bridge between our countries,” he concluded, in reference to the Spanish international of Ghanaian origin, who has just been proclaimed European champion with the Spanish team and who has been included in the ideal eleven of the European Football Championship. His brother Iñaki, also an Athletic Bilbao player, currently plays for the Ghana national team.
Spain has maintained diplomatic relations with the Republic of Ghana since November 10, 1967 and has had a resident Embassy in Accra since 1971. In 2008 it established an Economic and Commercial Office in Accra. Ghana opened its Embassy in Madrid in 2024. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs, Diego Martínez Belío, visited Ghana in March this year for political consultations between the two countries.
The Africa Plan (2019) considers Ghana as a “preferred country”, a category that reflects a stable country, with a dynamic economy and in which there is a potentially expandable Spanish presence.
In addition, the Africa Focus 2023, whose presentation in Madrid in March 2021 was attended by the then president Nana Akufo-Addo as a guest of honor, maintains Ghana as a priority country within the economic field. Furthermore, the Africa Focus prioritizes, in terms of peace and security, the Sahel and the maritime space of the Gulf of Guinea, two regions in which Ghana has a prominent role.
Bilateral cooperation is focused, above all, on the cultural, academic, security and defense fields, and although Ghana is not currently a priority country for Spanish Cooperation, the AECID financed various projects until 2011.
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