Ahead of the European Union/African Union summit, the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday 14 December called for a partnership between the EU and the AU that puts Africa and its European partners on an equal footing, without prejudice, to enable Africa to achieve economic prosperity, in the interest of both continents.
Covid-19. “If the pandemic is straining humanity, imagine the impact it has had in West Africa, which was counting on economic growth. It was a hard blow!”, said the President in a solemn address to the European Parliament.
He recalled that in March/April 2020, experts were unanimous in saying that Africa would be hit hard. “Fortunately, the forecasts did not materialise.”
He also criticised the assumption that “the experts are European”. “We were not believed as we followed the science while Europe was in the ideology of seeking who was responsible for the virus. We were dismayed that they were trying to make it an African disease and thought that Africans were not dying because they were cooking the books”.
However, the Ghanaian has been a champion of Covid-19 vaccines, which currently have a conditional marketing authorisation. He thanked the EU for the “donations through Covax” and deplored “sad vaccine nationalism”, which means that “Europe is 70% vaccinated and Africa less than 10%”.
He denounced the isolation inflicted on southern Africa, while Omicron, detected in 40 countries, was present in the Netherlands before being sequenced in Africa. “Why is there no travel ban to the Netherlands?” And he took up the slogan hammered out by the EU: “No one will be safe until everyone is safe”. He also expressed Ghana’s desire to be self-sufficient in vaccine production.
Noting that the EU is focusing on a border surveillance problem, the President recalled that “for hundreds of years, the flow of migrants has been in the opposite direction”. He said that the migrants who die in the Mediterranean are desperate. “It’s more a problem for us than for Europe. No young person should be exposed to the danger and humiliation of such a dangerous journey. We must ensure that no one attempts such a journey”.
Prosperity. The EU could do a lot to make African countries attractive, including through a fair trade system, which would create more jobs, according to Mr Akufo-Addo. Efforts should focus on trade, energy, climate, the fight against illicit financial flows to Europe, the fight against cybercrime, and human rights.
“A Plan for our Prosperity” includes the African Continental Free Trade Area with 54 countries, 1.2 billion people and, by 2050, 2.5 billion.
“Imagine the opportunities of this market for manufacturing products in Europe and the huge export possibilities! A prosperous Africa would be good for us and for Europe. A fair trading system is better for both sides than exploiting a poor partner”, he said.
The problems of the environment and climate change can only be solved if we tackle the problem of poverty, the President stressed: “a person who is hungry and unemployed is of no use in saving the planet”. Ghana is committed, but there is no question of African countries giving up exploiting their natural resources when they produce only 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Peace and security “remain a critical challenge”, especially in the Sahel, where jihadist attacks, violence, and instability are linked to the disintegration of Libya. “Europe has an important role to play, because it played an important role in the disintegration”, the President said.
He thanked the EU for helping Ghana secure a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2022-2023. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)