Chief calls integration of African economies

Hohoe, May 26, GNA - Togbega Gabusu VI, Paramount Chief of Gbi Traditional Area, has called for sustained efforts at integrating the economies of Africa in view of the debilitating effects of the global credit crunch.

He said Africa would be the most disadvantaged under the effects of the credit meltdown and a continent whose economies are heavily dependent on external sources should go for accelerated integration now than ever. Togbega Gabusu appealed to the leadership of the continent to move towards concretizing the ideals enshrined in the African Union protocols for integration.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview on African Union (AU) Day on Monday which coincided with his 19th anniversary of his enstoolement, he called on leadership to promote education to change the mindset of the people.

Togbega Gabusu called for realistic optimization of the continent's human and material resources towards unity to facilitate political and economic independence saying enough time had been wasted on rhetoric. "It is time to take the bull by the horn and refrain from reducing this serious unity and integration business to mere platitudes", he said.

Togbega Gabusu said intra-continental and inter-regional trading blocks of comparative commodities would provide the genuine platform to set the tone for rapid actualization of ideals of the AU. He said the gradualist stance of integrating Africa should give way to a more radical position, which should allow those countries ready to commence the unity processes to take-off and permit others to join later.

He said the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and NEPAD initiatives were good. Togbega Gabusu, the immediate past President of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs conflicts, said leadership problems, corruption, dictatorship, unstable government, inadequate infrastructure, greed, disease and squalor continue to make Africa unattractive to the rest of the world.