A member of Ghana’s delegation to the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), Parliament, Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has said the return of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali to the sub-regional bloc must be navigated carefully as it is a tricky matter.
According to him it is possible and important to have these three Sahel Countries to return to the sub-regional bloc in order to have a united front with unity of purpose in addressing issues concerning the region.
However, this must be tactfully and carefully handled to find solution to their return; unlike Guinea which has returned to the community parliament, the other three failed to respond to a similar opportunity given them thus, they were not present at the inaugural ceremony of the 6th Parliament.
The Deputy Minority Leader of the Ghanaian Parliament who is a first-timer in the Community Parliament was very grateful to the chair of the Authority of Heads of States and Government, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Commission President Dr. Omar Alieu Touray for their presence to swear in the lawmakers and the hospitality of Nigeria.
“So far, I think the chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government said the right things; we must do everything we can to bring our brothers and sisters onto the fold. It is key for us, and we must find that solution. It is clear as the chairman of the commission said but our words must match our actions, so we must act in that direction very critically”, he said in an interview.
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger formally requested to ‘immediately’ withdraw from ECOWAS on 28 January, 2024 following a joint statement by the junta-led countries. According to the countries, “ECOWAS has been under the influence of foreign powers, betraying its founding principles, has become a threat to its member states and its populations”. Ghana has enjoyed steady economic relations with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger as data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) indicates, Ghana has relished an increased annualized rate of 17.6% over two decades of trading with Mali from $1.99 million in 1996 to $82.6 million in 2019. Further data estimates that Burkina Faso and Mali account for almost 70% of Ghana’s livestock import while in 2021, Ghana was the top destination for onion exports by Niger valued at $21.7million. Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture estimates that onion import from Niger, currently valued at $26million, will increase to $30million by the end of 2024.
As to whether he was worried that Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger did not show up, he pointed out that the Guinean delegation came and obviously they were well received. We believe that steps must be taken, to make sure we resolve all the outstanding impacts.
“The fact is that we have no choice, we are in this together; Ghana cannot develop and leave like an island and they would be fine, unless the whole of the West African countries are also developed. We cannot have a universal access to electricity and see Burkina Faso and Togo have 30% of electricity. Again, you know what will happen, we will be overwhelmed by all these people from other countries, and so we must all develop together, and take the step together. It is not like we have a choice; our destiny is being tied; we must work together to move forward together. It is very clear that these perspective opportunities will allow us to move the vision of our founding fathers.”
The Deputy Minority Leader, further pointed out that the vision of Ghana’s first President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah becomes very relevant wherever he goes. “Yesterday as I was observing things, I told myself what a missed opportunity; if only he (Kwame Nkrumah) had moved that train as quickly in 1957 and 1958, to organize the all African conference and pushed the agenda of the independence of Africa, we would not have come here today speaking to our sisters and brother in different countries in French, English and Portuguese; we would have been speaking one language. We have work to do”, he emphasised.
As a representative from Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s home town and what the Pan Africanist envisaged, he noted that no one would dispute that Africa and the sub-region must develop in unity if we still aspire to the vision of our forebears.
“Today I don’t think anyone would dispute that, if we are going to negotiate with the big countries like China and America, we shouldn’t go with tiny cups in hand, rather we should go as a bloc and with values.
This report was written by Ghanaian Journalist Kwaku Sakyi-Danso covering the Sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja, Nigeria. An additional note was made by the ceditalk.com editorial board.