Lack of cohesion bane of Africa’s integration

By Edmund Smith-Asante

Dr Yao Graham (left) in a chat with the Country Director of the UNDP, Mr Dominic Sam (middle), and Dr Joseph Atta-Mensah after the opening of the colloquium.

An official of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Mr Joseph Atta-Mensah, has stressed the need for cohesion between the African Union (AU) and all regional blocs to make integration possible.

He said the lack of cohesion had resulted in seeming differences concerning the same subject, which draws back the integration of the African continent.

Mr Atta-Mensah, who is the Principal Policy Adviser of the Capacity Development Division of UNECA, was delivering the introductory remarks at the opening of a three-day colloquium on Africa’s economic integration in Accra yesterday.

Organised by UNECA and the Third World Network (TWN)-Africa, a pan-African research and advocacy organisation based in Accra, the colloquium was on the theme, “Africa’s Economic Integration: Strengthening Internal Coherence and Resilience to External Challenges”. 

“Regional integration is important and there is currently no link between what the AU is pursuing in terms of regional integration and that of the different regional economic blocs on the continent. 

“Therefore, there is the need to establish that coherence between the AU and the various regional blocs,” Mr Atta-Mensah said.

He said decisions that the heads of state took at the AU were not replicated in the regional blocs or at the country level, so it appeared there were differences on the same issue, such as differences on policies from the country level to the regional and to the AU.

He said there was an affront to the free movement of people on the continent, adding that the political imperative of regional integration should not be lost on anybody, although there was now more emphasis on economic integration.

Structural Problems

The Coordinator of the TWN, Dr. Yao Graham, said although the African continent had witnessed some growth in recent times, there were still structural problems.

He said most African countries had remained as exporters of raw materials, although the fortunes of agriculture, which used to be the backbone of the countries, were dwindling.

He said as the prices of minerals and agricultural produce were falling, there was that recognition that countries needed to change the structure of their economies.

The Need for Integration

For his part, the Adviser on Strategic Matters at the AU Commission, Dr Fareed Arthur, who delivered the opening address, stressed that Africa needed to know that there was no other alternative to integration. 

“When you look at the continent with varied countries, the only panacea for the development of the countries will be integration. Integration is no longer political action but the need to stick together for economic development,” he said.

He said although there were 54 countries on the continent, they had remained largely individual states, adding that most African leaders had become “countrycentric”. 

Speaking on, “Political and Social Pre-requisites of Integration and Development”, Mr John Gbodi of the AU Commission stated that Africa needed good governance because it was a pre-requisite for a peaceful continent.

“If we do not have good governance on the continent that will bring about peace, we are not likely to realise that economic integration,” he said. 

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh 

This story was first published by the Daily Graphic on May 7, 2014