The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has implored Nigeria to amend its import restriction policy and open its market to the rest of West Africa.
He said Nigeria being the leading market in the sub-region, has a significant role to play in the intro-trade agenda being pushed, following the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Speaking at the 2nd Volta Young Entrepreneurs Summit in Ho, the ranking Member of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee asserted that Nigeria’s stance is detrimental to the continent’s economic emancipation agenda.
“They concede that they can be more outward-looking. They have been too comfortable inward-looking, and very protective. They feel that they have the numbers, we don’t really need the others. At a time when we are talking about AfCFTA, increasing trade among ourselves, look at the tall list of items that Nigeria is protecting that even West African neighbors cannot trade with their Nigerian counterparts”, he said.
Mr. Ablakwa, therefore, implored Nigerian leaders to emulate their counterparts in South Africa, which is the largest economy helping other smaller countries to promote economic growth in the southern region of the continent.
He called for a stronger collaboration between Nigeria and other countries of the West African-Sun Region and called on “big brother” Nigeria to stand down the competition stance.
He advocated for the revisiting of the key policies designed during the post-colonial era to promote intra-trade on the African continent.
He lamented the unavailability of cargo and direct flights between African countries and suggested the construction of a railway in the subregion, to ensure easy transiting of goods and services.
“We should consciously go back to a number of key projects, for example, the West African Highway, which was supposed to begin all the way from Tema, through the Volta Region, Aflao, into Lome, Benin, and then to Nigeria.
It is on strategic because, if you look at the cost of flying, it is expensive. And there are parts of this continent today, that if you really want to get there by air, you must transit through Europe before you get there. Air Cargo, for example, is not really possible on the continent. Imagine if we had just a simple rail line between Tema and Abuja, or Lagos, the impact that it would have on trade. So, there are practical solutions”, he said.
He enumerated the establishment of a common market on the continent, an African currency, and a Central bank as policies posited by the forebearers of the continent, which would lead to economic emancipation.
Mr. Ablakwa stated that AfCFTA is just the beginning, adding that the introduction of the currency and central bank coupled with other comprehensive policies would promote economic growth.
He said that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s assertion that African Leaders will run to their colonial masters for financial aid if the continent does not leverage its natural and human resources and do things economically is manifesting.
“Now we are all complaining about the IMF, why do we keep running to the IMF, why are we accepting conditionalities? And all these new taxes and increased tariffs and all of that, it will continue”, he said.
He lamented the continuous migration of Africans in bizarre conditions, transiting through the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, where about 1,000 Africans have lost their lives during the journey this year.
“They are now calling that crossing point, the cemetery of African Children and the cemetery of the future of Africa. So we have work to do and that is where the policies come in. Political leaders must wake up and activism is key. Fora like this, young people should insist and demand, we can’t keep doing the same thing, returning to the IMF always and thinking that it should be a panacea, it would not”, he concluded.
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