Establish political union for Africa’s devt - African govts urged
A Pan-African Union movement, Harakati Za Muungano (HZM), has urged regional economic communities in the Sub-Saharan region to collapse colonial barriers and establish a political union.
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It said African governments must work pragmatically to ensure and protect the economic security, personal security and state security of African people by establishing a union to integrate the sub-region.
“Sub-regional groups, such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other Sub-regional state groups, must begin to pragmatically collapse physical colonial barriers, eliminate trade barriers, effect policy reforms and establish a Union in the Sub-region to expedite and sustain Africa's development,” the HZM’s International President, Kwame Danquah, said.
Mr Danquah was speaking on the topic “Strengthening Sub-regional Integration and Elimination of Trade Barriers for Expanded Production, High Employment and Development” at the inaugural forum of the Pan-African Union movement, in Accra last Saturday (July 27).
It was on the theme: “The Birth of African Peoples Union”. The forum welcomed scores of participants from 10 ECOWAS member states such as Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Togo, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
Integration
Mr Danquah said Africa deserved a deep integration that went beyond a free trade area as promoted by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). He emphasised that the concept of a political union and an integrated African market must not be merely a lofty ideal, but a pragmatic pathway towards amplifying Africa’s strengths and shielding itself from the vulnerabilities of global economic fluctuations and geo-political disruptions.
“We yearn for a deep integration that transcends a customs union, a common market, an economic union to a political union in the sub-region, which will see member states exhibit the characteristics of an economic union in addition to harmonising member states foreign and defence policies under a common union policy,” he said.
He said the HZM aspired to move from a community of states to a community of people, adding that the argument for a political union must rest on the foundation of economic prosperity, peace and security.
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The HZM international president lamented the rate of intra-African trade despite making 17 per cent of the world’s population with 30 per cent of the world’s mineral reserves, eight per cent of the world's natural gas and 12 per cent of the world's oil reserves to support the African economy.
“Africa's share of global trade remains a paltry three per cent. According to the African Union, intra-African trade stands at around 15 per cent compared to approximately 60 per cent, intra-regional trade for Europe, 40 per cent intra-regional trade for North America and 30 per cent intra-regional trade for ASEAN bloc,” Mr Danquah said.
On Africa’s economies, Mr Danquah said the continent's continuous reliance on cash crops and primary products with all its attendant crisis of low productivity, inequitable and unfair trade practices and low investment had led to “the dwindling real incomes, rising unemployment, increasing illiteracy, declining health care, poor housing and population explosion”.
Call to action
The Chief Industrial Relations Officer of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) of Ghana, Marku Vondee, said the birth of HZM heralded a new era of collaboration, growth and empowerment.
She noted that the African Peoples Union was “a call to action for all of us to rise above our differences, to break down the barriers that divide us, and to work together towards a brighter future”.
She urged members of the HZM and trade unions to remain steadfast in their commitment to unity, development and freedom to build a legacy of prosperity and peace that would inspire generations to come.