Economic integration should come via expanded trade-Ambassador

Ho, Jan 7, GNA - West African economies can achieve faster and stronger integration through expanded and efficient trade relations than monetary unions.

It is at this level where integration has to begin and where dialogue between neighbours respecting economic integration can begin. Dr. Peter A. Schweizer, Swiss Ambassador in Ghana, said this at a lecture on "Globalisation and Regional Integration" as part of the Swiss Embassy's Cultural programme at Ho on Thursday that also featured a photo exhibition.

Dr. Schweizer called for the improvement of infrastructure and efficiency at border crossing points in the sub-region as a confidence building measure among countries in the region. He observed that actual border trade in Africa was much higher than it is statistically borne out because of inefficient border controls.

Dr. Schweizer discounted the notion that only countries with complementary economies can integrate, saying no two economies are exactly parallel. He asserted that the adoption of a common currency cannot achieve the goals of economic integration when physical and administrative obstacles hamper the movement of people, goods and services across borders.

Dr. Schweizer said the adoption of a common currency could only be attained when the level and management of individual economies have become very closely aligned.

The difficulty in achieving close alignment of economies has made monetary integration even in developed economies very difficult to attain. Dr. Schweizer contended that the Francophone Economic and Monetary Union (Union Economique et Monetaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA) of West Africa can hardly serve as a model of monetary integration because it was created out of ex-dependencies of France, which were before treated as one country.

"Economically, it is very much orientated towards France which still guarantees the monetary stability of the CFA Franc". He said other countries in the sub-region could explore the possibility of some participation in UEMOA or peg their currencies to a major hard currency as a means of stabilising the monetary situation. GNA