Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings Thursday held talks in Accra with his South African counterpart, Thabo Mbeki, who is on a four-day official visit.

Opening the talks, Foreign Minister Victor Gbeho recalled Ghana's role in the liberation struggle, the fight against apartheid and said now the "the struggle has entered another phase which is the fight against racial discrimination."

He told Mbeki: "I know you will succeed because since you emerged as president of your country, you have achieved many successes."

Gbeho's South African counterpart, Nkosazana Zuma, said: "Our past leaders, like the late President Kwame Nkrumah, ex-President Nelson Mandela and a host of others, fulfilled their mandate of liberating Africa. Now, the baton has been passed on to us to pursue the economic emancipation of our continent."

Mbeki later went on a ride through some of the main streets of Accra, cheered by thousands of people.

The South African leader arrived in Accra Wednesday night from Senegal, where he had briefly stopped on his way from a four-day visit in Nigeria