The Centre for Greater Impact Africa has cautioned African leaders to be mindful that the new trend of coup d’état on the continent will not negatively affect the successful implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).
The Reverend Dr. Worlanyo Mensah, Executive Director of the Centre, reacting to the overthrow of Mr Alpha Conde as Guinean President over the weekend, said as the instabilities fester, attention would be shifted from implementation of a common trading grounds for member countries to stabilize the continent.
Dr Mensah who is also an economist told the Ghana News Agency in Tema that, African leaders needed to act smart, plan strategically, and be more aggressive in putting more structures and policies in place to avoid a recurrence of such overthrows.
He alleged that the upsurge of insecurities in Africa was a calculated attempt by world powers to ensure that Africans does not unite to promote trade among the countries on the continent.
He said “it is an international economic strategy that they are adopting, what is happening in Guinea and all other places in Africa is being manipulated by unforeseen hands and it looks like only the youth in Africa are agitating but that is not so.”
He explained that with that kind of economic strategy, while African countries shift their attention off the AfCFTA to the insecurity issues, the super powers would then have the upper hand in trade.
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The Centre cautioned that the African Continent was very likely to experience increasing insecurity and instability through proxy destabilization because of the AfCFTA implementation as the policy had the potential to take the bread and power control from the foreign super powers who control government power, economy, and trade on the continent of Africa.
“AfCFTA undeniably seeks to make hope for Africa to become a world power. This is surely against the interests of present world powers who divided Africa for business interest. They do so through proxy war, coup d’état and crippling for the emerging economy.”
Rev. Mensah added that there were various global trade blocks and industry, and Africa wanted to consolidate its economy and integrate its various economy through the AfCFTA policy.
He said this might deny most of the European countries the raw materials they rely on the continent for, which would have negative effect on their economies, therefore their resolve to ensure that Africa did not have a unifying force to implement the trade policy.
He therefore urged leaders of African States to be focused and create the enabling environment for their indigenous enterprises to participate in the AfCFTA implementation, stating that there was strength in the collective effort of all members, therefore the need for intensified education on the benefits of uniting for trade.
