| |
 |
|
ThisWeekGhana.com becomes the D-O-T
before the dot com
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Commentary Page
We invite commentaries from writers all over. The subject is about
Ghana and the world. We reserve the right to accept or reject
submissions, but we are not necessarily responsible for the opinions
expressed in articles we publish......MORE
|
|
“Towards an Integrated, Peaceful and Prosperous Africa: The
AU in Perspective”
(A GNA feature by Mohammed Nurudeen Issahaq)
Accra, Sept. 15, GNA - The vision of a united, peaceful and
prosperous Africa has been a long cherished but elusive ideal
whose early advocates included Marcus Garvey; George Padmore;
W.E.B. DuBois; Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Haile Selassie of
Ethiopia; Gamel Abdul-Nasser of Egypt and Jomo Kenyatta of
Kenya, among others.
The idea found expression in the establishment of the Union of
African States (UAS), an early Pan-Africanist confederacy
initiated at the dawn of the 1960s, which provided foundations
for the creation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on
May 25, 1963.
In Africa’s post-independence era, the OAU and other earlier
regional groups, apparently preoccupied with the task of
nation-building and concerned more about protecting their
newly-won sovereignty, did not give much attention to the
promotion of economic and social interaction among African
countries, the majority of them still preferring the cozy
convenience of continued dependence on their former colonial
rulers.
However, driven by the exigencies of contemporary times notably
globalization and the proliferation of regional trade blocs
around the world, African leaders have since the early 1990s,
pursued the goal of integration with renewed vigour. In the face
of these developments, and confronted by harsh realities such as
low per capita income, low productivity, slow pace of
development and fundamentally fragile economies, African nations
came to the realisation that continuing to stand or act
individually on the increasingly volatile global,
socio-politico-economic arena could only spell their doom.
The paradox of Africa is that it is one continent endowed with
abundant natural and human resources, yet it is also the most
impoverished region of the world. About half of Africa’s one
billion inhabitants currently live on less than $1.00 per day.
After being mentioned in passing at various continental forums,
the idea of creating an African Union (AU) along the same lines
as the European Union (EU) was vigorously revived in the
mid-1990s, this time spearheaded by the Libyan Leader, Muammar
al-Qaddafi. The move was concretized with the adoption of the
Sirte Declaration at a conference of OAU Heads of State and
Government in the Libyan town of Sirte on September 9, 1999,
calling for the creation of an African Union.
Although established in 2001, the AU was formally inaugurated to
replace the OAU on July 9, 2002 in Durban, South Africa. The
birth of the AU was hailed with hope and euphoria across the
African continent, as well as among well-wishers and people of
African descent throughout the world. To a large extent, the
event was regarded as a re-awakening of the Pan-Africanist
dream. More importantly, it was also seen as a clarion call to
end Africa’s nightmare of poverty and underdevelopment.
At its inauguration in 2002, the AU set itself a 10-year grace
period, dubbed the ‘period of stabilization,’ within which it
would turn things around and set Africa on the path to
sustainable development. Among other benefits, integration was
expected to bring along prospects such as the opening up of
larger regional markets for African producers and consumers. The
Union has set as its primary targets the acceleration of
economic, political and social integration of Africa, with the
establishment of a United States of Africa as its ultimate goal.
It also places premium on the promotion of human rights, as well
as the entrenchment of democracy and good governance on the
African continent.
Challenges:
Indeed the objectives of the AU are lofty, and its benefits
immense, but Africa’s road to integration is fraught with
formidable challenges.
Seven years after its inauguration, the AU is yet to put its act
together. The vast majority of Africa’s population is yet to
know about the AU and to feel its impact in their everyday
lives. The momentum, the spark that is needed to ignite the
flame of integration has obviously not occurred yet because
apart from the routine conferences, things are a bit too quiet
for comfort on the AU front.
The impediments confronting the Union are both externally and
internally generated – bad governance, huge foreign debts,
crushing poverty and endemic armed conflicts, which together
with a myriad of other constraints; present a formidable threat
to the attainment of the ideal of a unified Continent. The
dilemma posed by the dichotomy between state sovereignty and
regional integration is another obstacle that must be
surmounted.
There are, also, the problems created by territorial boundaries.
Travelling across the border of one African country to the next
remains a nightmare, with numerous road checkpoints where
ordinary travellers and traders routinely have to pay bribes to
security personnel on duty in order to get through. This does
not only create a disincentive but is also a direct
contravention of the principle of free movement of people, goods
and capital as enshrined in the charters of both the AU and the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
By far the most outstanding and most crucial challenge
confronting the AU and Africa’s quest for integration, however,
is the apparent non-performance of the various Regional Economic
Communities (RECs) on the Continent. The reactivation and
harmonization of the RECs is what would actually propel Africa’s
integration process forward.
Considering the large membership of the AU (53 nations) and
other peculiar characteristics of the African continent, the
RECs are essential building blocks or linchpins whose effective
function is a vital prerequisite to any successful integration
process on the Continent.
Unfortunately, long after the attainment of political
independence, African nations have not shaken their colonial-era
economic patterns, with each one of them struggling to undo a
long-standing legacy dominated by trade with their former
colonial rulers rather than with each other. Whereas
intra-African trade in 1998 stood at about 11.4 per cent, trade
between African nations and the industrialized world as a whole
was 61.2 per cent during the same period, out of which trade
with the EU alone accounted for more than 40 per cent. That
picture remains pretty much the same even today.
The issue of concern here is that the prevailing terms of trade
between Africa and the developed world, have been far from
favourable to African nations. One would expect the development
partners to demonstrate that they are true partners by
supporting African states to industrialise their economies and
set them on the path of sustainable development, rather than
dolling out aid money.
Significantly, however, the question of external support from
Europe and other parts of the developed world could become a
double-edged sword. On the African continent where no effective
supranational institutions exist yet, the situation is further
worsened by the division of the countries into Francophone,
Anglophone and Luxophone zones.
But the exclusive support of a ‘godfather’ in the African
scenario – France, Britain or Portugal, for instance – on the
basis of past colonial ties, tends to produce ‘zones of
influence’ which can only exacerbate the prevailing trend of
dependency on the Continent. Unfortunately, the ‘godfather
syndrome’ is already a reality in African politics. To a large
extent, it is responsible for the low level of trade and
cooperation among African countries and, for that matter, the
ineffectiveness of the RECs.
Europe’s Experience:
In the study of regional integration, the EU is said to have
become a living laboratory where any part of the world embarking
on the exercise of integration must necessarily visit for a tip
or two.
Therefore, it would be useful at this juncture to take a brief
glance at Europe’s experience. From the perspective of history,
the idea of European integration is rooted in the tragic events
of the World Wars, which set nations in Europe on the search for
lasting peace and co-operation, following the devastation of
their major cities and the destruction of their economies during
several years of battles. The search for peace eventually led to
the quest for integration. In deed, the legacy of Jean Monnet,
who is reputed as one of the founding fathers of the European
Community, lies in his desire to remove forever the causes of
war that periodically tore Europe apart.
Identifying the lack of unity as the cause of strife between
European states, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman in his
May 9, 1950 declaration in Paris went on to table the French
Government’s proposal which placed Franco-German production of
coal and steel under a common ‘high authority’, and which
eventually led to the formation of the European Coal and Steel
Commission (ECSC) in 1951. Originally, the Commission comprised
six countries - France, Italy, the Federal Republic of Germany,
Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It was envisaged that
this move would bring about a common cause or unity of purpose,
thus providing the foundation for a deeper collaboration between
countries, “whose conflicting interests have for a long time
kept them bloodily engaged”.
About six decades down the lane, the EU has not only expanded in
terms of membership (currently 28 nations) but has also become
the world’s most successful example of regional integration,
reaping the benefits (as well as challenges) that come along
with a virtually borderless Continent and a huge market.
The EU approach to integration, according to experts, is in line
with Functionalist thought, which places emphasis on cooperation
in the economic, social, and technological spheres. It draws a
clear distinction between the utilitarian welfare aspects of
inter-state relations, and the political aspects dealing with
law and order, security and sovereignty. The functionalist
approach seeks to shift emphasis from political issues which
divide, to those social issues in which the interest of the
people is plainly identical and collective. “…shift the emphasis
from power to problem and purpose”, in the words of Ernst Haas
[1964]. By such a strategy it is both essential and possible to
replace mutual suspicion with growing trust that would promote
peaceful relations and extend co-operation to many more sectors
than those intended originally.
The Here and Now:
Deutsch argued that groups of countries would integrate or come
together to form unions when they are confronted with a common
threat (such as the devastating inter-state wars in the case of
Europe). Although in Africa’s particular circumstances there is
no history of bloody inter-state conflicts, there is the
combined scourge of poverty, hunger and disease. Arguably, the
devastation and misery caused by these conditions surpass that
experienced by Europe in the two World Wars and should,
therefore, suffice as a motivating factor or catalyst to bring
African countries together to seek common solutions to the
problems that afflict their people.
The agricultural sector is one area that could provide a
springboard for the much needed activation of the RECs, as well
as the heightened level of economic cooperation that has so far
eluded the Continent. African countries could begin integrating
their economies in the agricultural sector since they are all
essentially agrarian – just in the same way as European
integration started from the industrial sector with the pooling
of coal and steel production. It would be prudent to pursue of a
policy similar to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP),
which would place emphasis on joint action in the agricultural
sector and agro-processing or adding value to agricultural
produce.
At a meeting in Sirte, Libya in July 2009, leaders of the
African Union (AU) rightly emphasized the need for increased
collaboration in the agricultural sector as the Continent’s way
out of the current global economic crisis. Committing more
resources to agriculture would not only enable them to make food
available for the teeming population, but also generate jobs for
the unemployed if pursued with the requisite commitment and
consistency. The Sirte decision, therefore, is one line of
action the Heads of State and Government should pursue without
any further delay.
Each region on the Continent could maximize the production of
specific agricultural commodities based on the principle of
comparative advantage, thereby preparing the terrain for
effective collaboration amongst the various RECs on the
Continent. In addition to enhancing food self-sufficiency, the
system of interdependence thus created would help to accelerate
the Continent’s integration process. Why, for instance, does
Mali have to import palm oil from Indonesia for industrial use
when it could get the commodity from Nigeria at a comparatively
cheaper cost? That is the kind of situation the RECs are meant
to rectify so as to pave the way for increased intra-African
trade and collaboration.
The greatest challenge of this era is for African Governments to
demonstrate in practical terms their readiness to embark on a
deliberate and sustained plan to transfer elements of state
sovereignty to the newly established AU supranational
institutions. Nationalism and integration are incompatible. The
issue of political will on the part of African Leaders is,
therefore, very essential, as the successful devolution of power
from the national to supranational institutions would depend on
their active and voluntary cooperation.
Beginning from the economic front, it is possible for
governments to work towards a united Africa through the
development of common institutions, the progressive fusion of
national economies, the removal of tariffs and trade barriers
amongst them, the creation of a common market and the
progressive harmonization of their social policies.
The apparent absence of intellectual interest in Africa’s
integration process is another inhibiting factor as far as the
AU’s progress is concerned. The theorizing and scholarly debates
that characterized the evolution of European integration, and
which served to refine the process, is completely absent in
Africa’s case. Academicians and scholars in every part of the
Continent need to come out with published works to generate
healthy debates and sustain the interest of the citizenry in the
integration process.
Critics also point out the absence of committed technocrats – an
African ‘Jean Monnet’ or ‘David Mitranny’ – who would provide
the vital inspiration and guidance that would accelerate the
Continent’s integration process.
The creation of strong/viable institutions, steadfast/consistent
policy implementation, safeguarding the Continent’s internal
peace/stability on a sustainable basis, and adopting a
progressive culture of commitment to the supreme interest of the
Union, are some key lessons from the EU experience that the AU
must learn.
Reducing the dependency on foreign aid, as well as improving the
governance and conflict resolution mechanisms, are the other
important steps to a successful integration and a prosperous
Africa, but these should be pursued at a pace that is both
ambitious and realistic.
European integration began with the joint production of coal and
steel, which with time spilled over into cooperation in other
sectors including security and defence. In Africa the
manufacturing base is almost non-existent but this deficiency
can be turned into an opportunity if African Governments
unanimously declared an industrial revolution and worked
collectively and consistently towards its realization. From
whatever angle one looks at the issue of African unity, one
cannot but conclude that getting the RECs and other essential
structures/institutions functioning efficiently and effectively
before moving on to the ultimate goal of Union Government, or
United States of Africa, seems to be a more logical arrangement.
GNA
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
“Towards an Integrated, Peaceful and Prosperous Africa: The
AU in Perspective”
Accra, Sept. 15, Ghanadot/GNA - The vision of a united, peaceful and
prosperous Africa has been a long cherished but elusive ideal
whose early advocates included Marcus Garvey; George Padmore;
W.E.B. DuBois; Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Haile Selassie of
Ethiopia; Gamel Abdul-Nasser of Egypt and Jomo Kenyatta of
Kenya, among others. .....
More |
|
|
Gov’t orders public institutions
to give preferential treatment to indigenous businesses
in the award of contracts
Accra, Sept 15, Ghanadot - The Vice President,
H.E John Dramani Mahama has ordered all public
institutions in the country to give preferential
treatment to indigenous businesses in the award of
government’s contracts.
...More |
|
|
|
|
|
Chinese Buses on the brink
Analysis, Sept 3, Ghanadot - The
question to ask Mr. Viscchers is who placed the order or
took delivery of those buses? And was there some
requirements stipulated for the acquisition of the
buses; or shall we say the buses on delivery were
accepted with the usual “gift from the gods” attitude -
no questions asked and no inspection needed?.....More
|
|
|
Information overload is the SMS
message center concept
News Analysis, Sept 14, Ghanadot - This idea for “SMS
message center,” proposed by the government, is a waste; or,
at best, a money making opportunity for mobile phone
operators...More |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
SPONSORSHIP AD HERE |
|
|
|
|
|
|
