Rotation of some heads of missions and ambassadors will take place next year in keeping with a commitment to have them moved on a regular basis, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge says.
“I did give an undertaking that they would be rotated. I did not intend that they would all be rotated at once. You will see during this coming year that there will be rotations,” he told reporters at a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday. Greenidge said that the rotations occur over two, three or four-year periods.
“You rotate them or they reach retirement and you take them out of service. We have not forgotten,” he said in response to a question posed by Stabroek News.
In terms of diplomatic relations, he said a number of countries are showing interest in establishing missions in Guyana and likewise, Guyana, is interested in establishing missions in those countries. Two Caribbean countries, which he did not name, he said, are speaking to Government about establishing missions locally. Guyana, he said is also speaking with the United Arab Emirates and Turkey about opening missions in those countries.
On why Guyana is interested in opening a mission in Ethiopia, Greenidge pointed out that it is the seat of the African Union.
“Though it is in East Africa, it is pretty central. It is relatively easy to get to. It has the first international airline on the continent in Africa. Certainly, the longest serving commercial airline, Ethiopian Airways, so capable that it has trained many airlines in and out of Africa,” he said.
According to Greenidge, if a government wants to have a meeting with as many African heads as possible, its representatives will not visit each African country, especially if they have a limited budget. “You find a place where they are likely to be in a predictable manner and you turn up there. So the African Union has conferences and summits, and Addis Ababa is the place where those events are held,” he said.
It would be useful for Guyana to have an office there, where meetings can be arranged, ideas exchanged and understand the difficulties they have and by the same token, let them know the issues Guyana face, he said.
According to Greenidge, Guyana does not have any special links with Ethiopia, as it has with all of West Africa, whether it is Ghana, Nigeria or Togo as those are the countries from where the African stock of Guyana originated. “There is an interest, culturally, in having a mission in West Africa. The question is should we have it in French or English-speaking West Africa. That is something we are looking at,” he said.
In setting up a mission, he said, “We try to identify a country that would have warm relations with us, that values our relationship and can help by way of outreach, and also a hub from where we can make contact with other groups.”
Noting that the largest country in terms of population in Sub-Saharan Africa is Nigeria with Ethiopia being number two with a population of over 105 million, Greenidge said, “The question is should we chose Nigeria instead?”
Nigeria as a commercial centre, he noted, was also important in Africa and across the world. “It is expensive and it could be a difficult place,” he added.
