HOW FAR IS AFRICA INTEGRATING?

By Elizabeth Owusu-Kissi, AIF News Reporter

African integration was one of the more interesting topics discussed Tuesday 3 June, on the Africa in Focus show on Radio XYZ. Host Emmanuel.K.Bensah Jr had the opportunity of interviewing Dr. Lloyd Amoah of Ashesi University; Charles Vandyck of WACSI; Mkhu Ncube, former UNECA official in Zimbabwe over the phone; and Dr. Joseph Atta-Mensah of the UN Economic Commission for Africa(UNECA) over the line in Addis.

As excitement hit the roof, Dr.Lloyd Amoah in his submission talked about the perception of African minds when it comes to matters of Africa’s integration. He said “somewhere, somehow, the ordinary people are not aware of the policies their government leaders signed, talk less of understanding what it actually means’ adding that to them.” He continued “it’s a piece of paper signed somewhere for their benefit but not effective in their domestic lives.”

Charles Vandyck of WACSI also buttressed the point made by Dr. Amoah explaining that Ghana, for example, signed these protocols but did not ensure its practicality in the social lives of its people. He said, “for citizens to understand what it means, then it must reflect in their social lives”. Citing examples, he said it’s unfortunate a product from Ghana will cost less to transport to the U.K but very expensive when transporting to a nearby African country because of high taxation.

Mr. Vandyck shared his experience on the show, explaining how he had to pay more to refill for roaming in a nearby African country, adding that the cost was much higher compared to others.

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