Integration, Now Or Never

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has just out-doored the 2009 edition of its Economic Development in Africa Report in which it argues that the global financial crisis has brought about the need for a re-examination of current approaches to international development.

Most importantly, the report says global financial crisis even makes more pressing for Africa to integrate quickly.

Deeper regional integration, the reported noted, "would address the long-standing structural weaknesses of African economies."

Indeed, what the report said is nothing new. At the founding conference of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah gave an 11-point proposal to his colleague heads of state to consider. Top on the list was Dr. Nkrumah’s call for the establishment of an African common market, a common African currency, an African monetary zone, and an African central bank.

More than 40 years down the line, Africa is still struggling to galvanize its forces and work under one umbrella for sustainable economic development. For instance, intra-Ecowas trade is a mere 11 percent. While Europe remains Ecowas’ biggest trading partner, countries in the sub region continue to make the movement of goods and people near impossible.

One item in the integration process that continues to dog Ecowas countries has been the introduction of a common currency in the sub-region. Deadlines have been postponed several times because member countries have failed to meet the convergence criteria. At the mid-year summit in Abuja the 2009 deadline was pushed to 2015.

Suspicion and sheer lack of commitment on the part of the leaders have been blamed for the sorry state of affairs regarding regional integration on the continent. Protocols on the free movement of people and of persons are hardly respected by member countries while infrastructure needed for transport has largely remained poor.

At the moment, Ghana’s harbours are unable to cope with the increasing imports and traffic from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The Tema harbour for instance is badly congested due to the lack of space for the huge imports by the neighbouring countries.

This newspaper urges African leaders to move beyond the meetings upon meetings and begin to ensure that their real integration is achieved for the African continent. The paper particularly urges the Government of Ghana, since Ghana’s foreign policy of focusing on regional integration remains unchanged, to rekindle the lead role the country played in former times in working towards a unified front for Africa’s development.

As the report noted, there is a new wave of optimism across the continent that integration is crucial for accelerated development. For this reason, Ecowas leaders and to a large extent leaders of other regional groupings should adopt policies to accelerate the phases of integration, including the establishment of free trade areas, common markets, customs unions and monetary unions.