The EU’s EPA with ECOWAS: What we now know

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• Kojo Bie 11 years ago

  If they sign magana go come for Ghana. We are tired and have nothing to loose.
  
  Are our leaders under some sort of spell?

  If they sign magana go come for Ghana. We are tired and have nothing to loose.
  
  Are our leaders under some sort of spell?

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• Mr. Figure-Out 11 years ago

  I need Ghanaweb mathematicians to work out this incoherent and unbalanced 'chemical' equation for me:
  
  (100% access)-(sugar+rice) = A%, where A is a variable. Find A?
  
  What annoys me, of this EPA brouhaha, is the 6. ...
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  I need Ghanaweb mathematicians to work out this incoherent and unbalanced 'chemical' equation for me:
  
  (100% access)-(sugar+rice) = A%, where A is a variable. Find A?
  
  What annoys me, of this EPA brouhaha, is the 6.5 billion dollar bait attach to the strings of the agreement.
  In fact, I am not atheist, but the unsolved equation above reminds me of one of the numerous hard to believe Kwaku Ananse stories in the Bible which has it that, Adam and Eve were given 100% dominion over everything in the Garden of Eden except an apple which the biblical God commanded them not to eat. And this fiction of child's play went on to say that an evil filled annoying TALKING SNAKE, not even the Chimpanzee( the higher memory old time half brother of mankind), with its undulatory locomotion, slithered up to Eve and convinced her to eat the apple which he did and passed on one to Adam who also ate. My point is that why are the EU, which seems to already have 100% access to our markets, now struggling to convince us to make it a paper agreement, that is the EPA, which will legimately allow them to have only 70% to our market. Can somebody explain to me which sector of our market constitute the 30% where they don't wonna venture?

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• readi 2 dye 11 years ago

  Cost of Texas stadium = 1 billion$
  An NBA team just sold for 2 billion$
  How many countries in ecowas..
  Real talk; those who support this bull need to be TAKEN OUT the game. The man said all dye b dye.

  Cost of Texas stadium = 1 billion$
  An NBA team just sold for 2 billion$
  How many countries in ecowas..
  Real talk; those who support this bull need to be TAKEN OUT the game. The man said all dye b dye.

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• G.G. LAWRENCE 11 years ago

  THE STUPID HYPOCRITE MAD EWE BOKOR IS ON THE BLOCK AGAIN WITH A NEW GARBAGE, YOU HYPOCRITE DIRTY EWE.

  THE STUPID HYPOCRITE MAD EWE BOKOR IS ON THE BLOCK AGAIN WITH A NEW GARBAGE, YOU HYPOCRITE DIRTY EWE.

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• Asiwome 11 years ago

  This type of donation is good for people like you, because along with the money they tell you what to think! You seek money that reeks havoc on families and communities. What is wrong with someone asking you to exercise cauti ...
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  This type of donation is good for people like you, because along with the money they tell you what to think! You seek money that reeks havoc on families and communities. What is wrong with someone asking you to exercise caution?

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• JOHN T OKUMO 11 years ago

  stupid fool, shut up. am talking to u LAWRENCE

  stupid fool, shut up. am talking to u LAWRENCE

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• AMU 11 years ago

  Thank you!

  Thank you!

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• Amega 11 years ago

  The EU's fears are that the Chinese economy is growing so fast that if they i.e EU do not act fast, China will eventually take the African market.

  The EU's fears are that the Chinese economy is growing so fast that if they i.e EU do not act fast, China will eventually take the African market.

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• OKOE 11 years ago

  THE PLAYING FIELD IS NOT OPEN. WE DO NOT PRODUCE ANYTHING THAT MATTERS IN AFRICA TO SELL IN EUROPE OR ANYWHERE FOR THAT MATTER. WHAT I AM ASKING IS WHERE IS THE BENEFIT?IMMEDIATELY THIS EPA IS SIGNED, AFRICA IS DOOMED. WE WIL ...
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  THE PLAYING FIELD IS NOT OPEN. WE DO NOT PRODUCE ANYTHING THAT MATTERS IN AFRICA TO SELL IN EUROPE OR ANYWHERE FOR THAT MATTER. WHAT I AM ASKING IS WHERE IS THE BENEFIT?IMMEDIATELY THIS EPA IS SIGNED, AFRICA IS DOOMED. WE WILL FOREVER BE RECEIVING THAN GIVING. WHAT WILL AFRICA OR GHANA SELL TO EUROPE EXCEPT RAW MATERIALS AND THAT WE ARE ALREADY DOING. WHAT EUROPE NEEDS IS GETTING WITHOUT EPA SO WHAT IS THE BEEF? WHAT WILL HAPPEN IS THAT WHEN ANY COUNTRY THAT SIGNS THIS EPA WILL FIND IS THAT WHATEVER ANY OF THESE AFRICAN COUNTRIES WILL DREAM OF MANUFACTURING LOCALLY, IS ALREADY MADE FOR US AND SHIPPED, SO MY QUESTION IS WHAT WILL WE BE ABLE TO MANUFACTURE AND SELL IN EUROPE? THIS EPA IS SUICIDAL FOR ANY COUNTRY TO SIGN BECAUSE WE JUST ARE NOT IN AN OPEN PLAYING FIELD WITH THE EU PERIOD.

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• AMU 11 years ago

  Thank you Okoe.

  Thank you Okoe.

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• Deceive 11 years ago

  Now parliament is thinking about signing GMO contract too with Monsanto and his greedy allies. My question is what are they going to trade with EU in return since GMO is banned in Europe? Africa is in trouble because of our ...
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  Now parliament is thinking about signing GMO contract too with Monsanto and his greedy allies. My question is what are they going to trade with EU in return since GMO is banned in Europe? Africa is in trouble because of our greedy and incompetent leaders. How are we going to survive or improve our own economy if we allow them to dictate for us all the time. Our leaders don't you no that the white men always want to make sure Africans remain the poorest continent on the planet so that they'll enjoy our natural resources that have make them rich for good. Please God help us because we need you now more than ever, you're the only one who can deliver us from the evil.

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• BB Brown 11 years ago

  Dr. Michael's article intends to open our eyes on the on going drama, to sign or not to sign, the EPA. We need to look much deep and allow our minds much depth into the intricacies of the intentions of the European Union and ...
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  Dr. Michael's article intends to open our eyes on the on going drama, to sign or not to sign, the EPA. We need to look much deep and allow our minds much depth into the intricacies of the intentions of the European Union and what we Africans can gain and how we would have to draw our cards well. I would much say the whole drama is a chess game. Is a negotiation so we would have to play the game to benefit us just as they also try to play to benefit themselves. There are lessons here to learn, one fact is that whether we sign or we refused to sign our markets would continue to be filled with European goods at the detriment of our local industries. Partly because we our selves have a high taste for European goods and also they have a way out to penetrate our porous boarders with their goods. Goods are being smuggled every day with the connivance of our customs. Dr. Michael sited our leaders fear of sanctions if we failed to sign, what sanctions are they talking here?. It means total shut out of business for the few exporters who are already accessing their markets and that would really be bad. In signing the EPA, Africa has much to gain than if we don't sign, for instance we can control the kind of goods we wish to be in our markets than not signing and experiencing the flooding of substandard goods. The controls usually is up to us. Dr. Michal's concern about we not accessing sugar and rice markets in Europe, he should tell me if even we are allowed are we able to produce enough to consume and export? no. Can we export sugar? no we don't have sugar industries here so what are the fears here? But what I will tell our leaders are that the agreement should not be closed, it should have a human face in the sense that it should be subject to review which means in some day we could access their markets for our sugar and rice. So, as I said is a chess game we have to learn well and good, follow rules closely and apply punishment without favor. The amount of money they intend giving out is another booster but you and I know how corruption can erode the good intention so you blame who? What the African leaders would have to add is to request for more money as part of the negotiation and also press for our businesses to have access to European credits then we would be doing well than just saying no to signing. The hidden agenda or what the writer used the blind side here is that more of the European businesses would be open to credits facilities there, expand their businesses increase employment for their people, that is the big picture. We have to think and think well, we should equally have that access to some of our trying businesses, we should press to have easy access foreign funding to our private businesses. One problem I can see here too is, they opening their markets 100% for us and we would only be able to tape 25% and they know that. Reasons are poor quality goods, products not meeting their specifications, also not meeting targets. Assuming European Union is ordering thousand of tonnage of rice from Ecowas zone every week you think we would be able to meet supply and of high quality? we need to work hard whiles accepting EPA and trying to improve in the future. One thing we lack as African is the power of negotiation, the ability to read in advance what the counterparts partner's intentions and thinking, we should be able to anticipate their intentions before even negotiations begins if not we should be able to postpone sitting. We are poor at it so our citizen harbor fears and suspicious about any opportunity.We Stan to gain when we sign than we don't but the problem is how we do our things, corruption and not applying the whip I mean punishment for all our pen robbers.

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• Kwesi 11 years ago

  Bokor is just puffing and huffing because one has to show himself to be tough! But he doesn't know the intricacies of the EPA. He doesn't know the delicate situation in which the ECOWAS signatories have found themselves.
  
  B ...
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  Bokor is just puffing and huffing because one has to show himself to be tough! But he doesn't know the intricacies of the EPA. He doesn't know the delicate situation in which the ECOWAS signatories have found themselves.
  
  Bokor hasn't even given us any reason why we should NOT sign the agreement. The only reason he gives here is that the EU has made exception for two items into their markets - sugar and rice. He has not told us why the EU doesn't want our sugar and rice.
  
  Do we really produce enough of these two items to sell at competitive prices to the EU? Are we going to be exporting rice to Europe when we are importing the same from Thailand and China and Vietnam? And is our sugar so cheap and plentiful that we can export to the EU? Bokor doesn't consider these issues.
  
  These guys in the EU are more united than us. They know exactly what they want. We don't even know what we want. Ask Bokor that and he doesn't know either. He doesn't know what constitutes 70% of the ECOWAS market and which items the EU cannot export to us and why. He only knows of sugar and rice both of which the EU presently imports from elsewhere much more cheaply than they can ever import from us.
  
  There are 6 billion in the equation. Who is going to give that to who? Are West African countries going to give that to the EU?
  
  EU's trade with ECOWAS forms a small fraction of total EU trade. It is only a few EU industries that will lobby for ECOWAS exports (and imports). The EU has its greater interests to follow. The balance of the power negotiation is in their favour. This does NOT mean that we cannot drive a hard bargain. We must. But not for the reasons Bokor seems to be giving us above - i.e. if he has even given us any reasons. He has not even told us what are the best terms we should ask from the EU.
  
  And he is calling others pathetic. The pathetic person is Bokor who doesn't really know what he is talking about but thinks he must talk!!!

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• MARCUS AMPADU 11 years ago

  What about EU assuring the ECOWAS countries that we would do two things for you:
  
  1. Start a massive rural electrification , using renewable sources of energy - solar, wind, bio fuels, etc. to start cottage industries, so t ...
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  What about EU assuring the ECOWAS countries that we would do two things for you:
  
  1. Start a massive rural electrification , using renewable sources of energy - solar, wind, bio fuels, etc. to start cottage industries, so that the rural folks could embark on manufacturing and adding value to the things they produce.
  2. Improve the transportation network throughout the subregion - highways, waterways, and railways - to facilitate the movements of people and products; and manufactured items from EU markets could quickly reach ECOWAS markets.
  
  The multiplier effects of these projects would be huge for the sluggish economies of ECOWAS.
  
  This would undoubtedly be a Win-Win proposal that would benefit both the ECOWAS countries and the EU.

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• francis kwarteng 11 years ago

  Dear Dr. Bokor,
  
  Another excellent piece of work.
  
  I don't know what to say anymore about these incompetent leaders.
  
  I hope these leaders read this piece.
  
  Thanks.

  Dear Dr. Bokor,
  
  Another excellent piece of work.
  
  I don't know what to say anymore about these incompetent leaders.
  
  I hope these leaders read this piece.
  
  Thanks.

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• ohenhen1 10 years ago

  Good to hear that Nigeria rejected the deal. I hope Buhari continues to reject the deal. ECOWAS should promote the production of local goods. We don't need foreign goods flooding our market. I also have concerns about the pot ...
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  Good to hear that Nigeria rejected the deal. I hope Buhari continues to reject the deal. ECOWAS should promote the production of local goods. We don't need foreign goods flooding our market. I also have concerns about the potential of harmful products like genetically engineered goods flooding the market. I also like the idea of them banning African rice and sugar. While we don't ban any of their goods.

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