The

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

has an

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

in the

Republic of Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. It has a role in promoting trade between the countries.

History

The embassy of the Netherlands in Ghana has a long history, dating back to the period immediately following the

cession The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdictio ...

of the Dutch Gold Coast to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in April 1872. The Dutch government felt it was necessary to keep a Dutch representation in

Elmina Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, situated on a bay on the Atlantic Ocean, west of Cape Coast. Elmina w ...

and appointed the former colonial administrators Willem Le Jeune and Pieter Simon Hamel as agent and assistant agent, respectively. Apart from the regular diplomatic duties, the agents were also responsible for paying pensions to former employees of the colonial administration and to the African veterans of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. The latter task comprised the bulk of the work, and for this reason the agency was mostly paid for by the Dutch ministry of colonies, rather than the ministry of foreign affairs. The agent and assistant agent were promoted to consul and vice consul on 1 March 1873. Le Jeune retired in 1874 and was succeeded by Hamel. Gideon van der Meer de Walcheren was appointed as the new vice consul. Toward the end of the 1870s, Hamel, who was promoted to consul-general, went on several missions to neighbouring territories in an effort to recruit indentured labourers for the

Dutch West Indies The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the territories, colonies, and countries, former and current, of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean Sea. They are in the north and south-wes ...

and soldiers for the Dutch East Indies, all to no avail. The consulate general at Elmina was disbanded in February 1880. Hamel subsequently appointed the French merchant Arthur Brun as honorary consul at Elmina and left the Gold Coast. Brun was succeeded by the Dutch merchant Antonie Veldkamp in 1883 and by the local Euro-African Jacob Abraham de Veer in 1887. De Veer was the last honorary consul based in Elmina. In 1895, the consulate moved to Cape Coast, and in 1923 to Accra. In 1961, after

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

became an independent country, the consulate was upgraded to an embassy.

Management

Ron Strikker is the current Ambassador, and Caecilia Wijgers is Deputy Head of Mission as well as the head of the Development Cooperation Section and the Trade, Press and Culture Section.

Trade and economy

The Netherlands and Ghana have close commercial relations. The Netherlands is one of the top five importers from Ghana; the principal import is cocoa. Oil has been found offshore in 2007 and there has been production of oil since the end of 2010. The Ghanaian economy is still largely dependent on the production and export of two primary goods, cocoa and gold, although the recent discovery of oil should help diversify both activities and sources of revenue. Personal business contact between the two countries is facilitated by daily flights from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

to Accra and vice versa. The embassy provides information for companies exploring the Ghanaian market. It works closely together with the Ghanaian Netherlands Chamber of Commerce and Culture (Ghanecc), which itself provides companies with information. There are programmes that aim to promote trade and development, such as ORIO, Private Sector Investment (PSI), 2xplore, and Matchmaking Facility (MMF).

Notes

References

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External links

Official website

Ghana embassy on the website of the ministry of foreign affairs

Netherlands Enterprise Agency
{{Diplomatic missions in Ghana Diplomatic missions in Accra Diplomatic missions of the Netherlands