Regional integration not yet effective – ISODEC
The Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), in collaboration with the ECOWAS Commission and the Ministry of Foreign affairs, on Wednesday, held a forum in Navrongo to educate the public on issues of regional integration.
Dr Zakaria Yakubu, Director of Programmes, ISODEC, noted that regional integration was not doing as much as expected and blamed it on lack of commitment and poor communication on the part of stakeholders.
Dr Yakubu said ECOWAS countries, with small economies, are unable to do business together and that forfeited the objectives of regional integration, which should have been promoting the establishment of common markets, through liberation of trade among member countries for improved standards of living within member states.
He explained that ISODEC identified huge information gaps among Non State Actors (NSAs) about free movements of goods and services in the regional integration process.
He said it aimed among other things at building the capacity of NSAs on issues of regional integration towards the realization of a custom union and common market in West Africa.
He said the project also sought to empower NSAs to make positive contribution to national policy formulation and be able to contribute on governance matters, including mainstreaming gender concerns and human rights.
“Women who are traders across borders have their lives more endangered, including abuses, such as rape, when transacting businesses across the borders”, he added
He said the project also intends to launch an ECOWAS brigade in the northern, middle and southern zones to promote border transparency index to allow smooth movement of goods and services and to find out which borders performed well or badly.
He called on the Ghana Education Service to introduce regional integration programmes into school curricula to enable students to deepen their understanding of the issues.
Mr Eric Dalaba, Regional Representative of the Vegetable Farmers Association, recounted constraints, such as land acquisition and preparation and exorbitant charges slapped on farmers at the Tono irrigation dam and by some land owners, as well as, high cost of input.
He said though farmers enjoy fertilizer subsidy, it was done only during the rainy season and are unable to get the subsidy during the dry season for tomato farming.
Also, “market queens” preferred to buy tomatoes from neighbouring Burkina Faso, making tomato farmers in the region loose heavily, as the queens determined the prices of the tomatoes, making it more difficult for farmers to break even.
Mr Mark Woyongo, Upper East Regional Minister, who graced the occasion, blamed the inability of ECOWAS to achieve its objectives on political instability, lack of good governance, insufficient diversification of national economies and absence of reliable infrastructure in many African countries.
He said the new vision of ECOWAS had taken ownership of the objectives, designed to improve the living conditions of the citizenry, to ensure economic growth and create an environment conducive for development and integration.
He congratulated ISODEC for the initiative in educating Ghanaians to increase their involvement in the integration process. “Strategies must go beyond just participation of NSAs in ECOWAS activities to making obvious measurable improvements in the establishment of a common market and customs union among others”, he said.
He said the Upper East Region had started a series of tripartite relationship with neighbouring Burkina Faso and Northern Togo to discuss common problems.
Source: GNA