The Italian Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Laura Ranalli, has paid a courtesy call on the Mayor of Accra, Hon. Michael Kpakpo Allotey, to explore new avenues for deepening cooperation between Italy and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).

The meeting, held in Accra, focused on strengthening the Ghana–Italy Sister City Programme, supporting major infrastructure and cultural projects in the capital, and linking Italian businesses and expertise to Accra’s development agenda.

Welcoming the Ambassador, the Mayor said the Assembly was ready to serve as a key partner for Italian investments and collaborations in Accra, adding that the Assembly had an ambitious pipeline of projects and was looking forward to Italian participation in sectors such as commercial infrastructure, health and skills development.

On ongoing cooperation frameworks, the Mayor said the AMA was particularly interested in reviewing and strengthening the Ghana–Italy Sister City Programme, emphasising his strong personal commitment to fast-tracking development in the city and signalled the Assembly’s willingness to work closely with credible Italian partners on major projects.

“As an Assembly, we feel we need to move faster, especially as infrastructure development seems a bit delayed. We have no time to waste. I give my 100% support to anything that brings progress and development to the city,” he stressed.

Touching on national initiatives, Hon. Allotey pointed to the government’s 24-hour market and economy agenda and hinted at opportunities for high-level Italian expertise to engage in modernising designs and infrastructure concepts.

He added that the AMA was already engaging with the Lands Commission on potential projects and was open to receiving concept proposals from interested Italian firms and praised the quality and track record of Italian construction companies operating in Ghana.

On her part, Ambassador Laura Ranalli said she had called on the Mayor to formally introduce herself and reaffirm Italy’s growing engagement with Ghana under the Mattei Plan for Africa, the Italian government’s strategic framework for cooperation with African countries.

She explained that Italy was currently implementing several cooperation projects across Ghana, with a strong focus on education, agriculture, digitalisation and health, adding that Italy was also working with the Ministry of Education on projects across several regions and had launched initiatives on digitalisation, including engagements with Ghana’s 24-hour economy office, as well as a smaller project on the circular economy.

On the cultural front, the Ambassador announced a series of upcoming Italian cultural activities in Accra, including a concert at the end of January and two major exhibitions, noting that a second exhibition planned for October would focus on ecology, drawing inspiration from the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, whom she described as an important cultural and ecological figure in Italian history.

“We are inviting Ghanaian artists to prepare an exhibition on ecology, exploring the relationship between humanity, nature, and spirituality,” she explained, adding that an Italian engineer and artist based in Accra was helping to organise the exhibition and that venues such as the Museum of Technology were being considered.

Ms Ranalli also proposed a structured engagement between the Mayor and Italian businesses operating in Ghana.

Present at the meeting were the Executive Assistant to the Ambassador, Mad. Rita Essenam Soglo, Metro Coordinating Director Mr Douglas N.K Annoful, Metro Finance Director, Mr. Abeeku Amissah, Head of International Relations, Mr. Bashiru Salisu and Head of Protocol, Mr. Abeashie Mensah.