Accra, May 24, GNA - Ghana and Nigeria are to renew talks in August, this year to find lasting solution to the stand-off in trade and commerce between them.

Nigeria, for some time now, has banned trade in certain products with Ghana despite her ratification of the West African Protocol on trade liberation, which ensures free movement of goods and services among Member States.

Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, who announced this, said the current economic realities demanded that both countries worked together in furtherance of integration to reap economies of scale to enable them to face the challenges of globalisation.

He was speaking when Mr Henry Odein Ajumogobia, Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs paid a courtesy call on him in Accra on Monday. Mr Ajumogobia is leading top-level Nigerian Government delegation to the African Union (AU) Day celebration in Accra as part of activities marking the centenary celebration of the birth of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, a foremost Pan-Africanist.

Alhaji Mumuni noted that Ghana and Nigeria shared historic bonds in terms of trade and language and there was therefore the need to sustain such bonds for their mutual benefits. He said the presence of the Nigerian delegation at the AU Day was a demonstration of the cordiality of relations between both countries. Alhaji Mumuni recalled pre-independence era in Africa when Ghana and Nigeria spearheaded the Continent's liberation agenda. "Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Namdzi Azikiwe were some of Dr Nkrumah's colleagues who championed the liberation agenda on the Continent," he said. Alhaji Mumuni noted that both countries had continued to play leading roles in championing continental peace during the post-independence era. He congratulated Mr Ajumogobia on his appointment as Nigerian Foreign Minister and pledged to work with him to promote the common interests of both countries.

Mr Ajumogobia said "he was elated to be in Ghana to celebrate the birth of a Great Son on the Continent". He said Dr Nkrumah's contributions benefited many people on the Continent and his ideology was still relevant now as it was over five decades ago.

Mr Ajumogobia called on Ministers of Foreign Affairs on the Continent to work together to prosecute a post-liberation agenda. He expressed the Nigerian Government's appreciation to President John Evans Atta Mills for being one of the first leaders on the Continent to visit Nigeria to mourn with them on the death of President Musah Umar Yar'dua. 24 May 10