He told his guests, made up of ministers, diplomats and other guests that “Ghana is nowadays on the forefront of African countries in terms of democracy, peaceful co-existence, good governance and macroeconomic indicators”.
Ambassador De Agostini said it was a unique privilege for him “to be posted in Accra as Italian Ambassador at this very moment.”
Recalling former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s Ghana @ 50 Lecture, he said, “The election of H.E. John Agyekum Kufuor to the Chairmanship of the African Union, fifty years after the Declaration of Independence proclaimed by Kwame Nkrumah at the Old Polo Ground makes us believe that the prophecy of Kofi Annan is likely to come true.”
And what was Kofi Annan’s prophecy? That Ghana, having paved the way for other nations to gain independence now has the “Mission to lead the continent into a new era”; An era of “African Renaissance”.
Italy and Ghana established diplomatic relations immediately after independence in 1958 and the two countries have seen much cooperation since then in political, social, economic, industrial and cultural fields.
A couple of months ago, the city of Accra witnessed the unprecedented visit of the Orchestra of La Scala Milan under Daniel Barenboim to perform Beethoven’s 9th “Choral” Symphony, the first time the orchestra has set foot anywhere on the continent of Africa.
This is how Ambassador De Agostini captured the event in his speech: “I could not conclude my speech without mentioning the great cultural event which was intended to be the Italian tribute to the fiftieth anniversary celebrations; that is the extraordinary concert of La Scala of Milan at the National Theatre of Accra on the 23rd of April. It is not an overstatement to assert that it was a historic event.
In fact never before had La Scala come to Africa and never before had the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven been performed live in Africa by such a renowned orchestra and chorus.”
The enthusiasm of the “magic night” De Agostini said, “was shared between the Ghanaian audience and the Italian delegation….All the musicians of La Scala were deeply touched by this new experience and expressed the sincere will to come back to Ghana.” Significantly, the Ghanaian national anthem as rendered by the orchestra under Barenboim’s baton was played at the Ambassador’s reception to rapturous applause.
Mrs. Gladys Asmah, the Minister of Fisheries, who represented the state at the reception, joined the Italian Ambassador to toast to the health of the Ghanaian and Italian Presidents. In her response, she recalled the “partnership between Ghana and Italy” which she said dates back to Ghana’s pre-independence era. She mentioned Professor Vinigi L. Grotanelli of the University of Rome who visited the colony in 1954 and did fa- reaching anthropological work on the Nzema, which continues “to inspire later generations of both students and researchers of anthropology.”
Relations between Italy and Ghana she said “have remained cordial since independence and over the years.”
Recently, she emphasized, “With the Italian government’s desire to assist developing countries, especially those in Africa to address socio-economic problems confronting them, cooperation between the two countries has been on the ascendancy.”
On the expected visit to Ghana by the Italian President, she said it is “a further confirmation of the strong bonds of friendship that exist between our two countries.”
The African Union (AU) Summit scheduled for Accra next moth would have an Italian component in a delegation to be led by Mr. Amando Sanguini. Mr. Sanguini is Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi’s Personal Representative for Africa.
Mrs. Asmah said in her concluding remarks that, “As we prepare to host the AU Summit in Accra next month, a summit dubbed “The Grand Debate” on the proposed Union Government for Africa, we look forward to welcoming our development partners and friends of Africa to Ghana for the occasion.”
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