Wa, Oct. 5, GNA – The Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition on Thursday said previous trade pacts with the European Union that offered preferential treatment to developing countries in Africa did not bring any real economic growth and that the eventual liberalization of the economies of African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries through the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) would make them worse off. The Coalition said during the implementation of the Lome Convention between the 1970s and 1990s, Africa’s share of world trade fell from four per cent in 1970 to two per cent in the 1990s, while its share of ACP export to the European Union dropped by more that half from eight per cent in 1975 to two point eight (2.8) per cent in 2000. Mr Augustine Yirideme, Upper West Regional Focal Person for the Coalition made these known at a day’s sensitisation forum on the EPA, which was attended by representatives of civil society groups in the Region at Wa.
The Coalition is a national advocacy group made up of NGOs, civil society organizations and farmer-based organizations with a mission to advocate the implementation of policies favourable to the economy and people of Ghana.
Mr Yirideme said negotiations for the EPA had reached a very crucial and critical stage and there was the need to increase efforts at bringing pressure to bear on African leaders not to adopt “this perilous strategy” that was being spearheaded by the European Union. He said their campaigns against the EPA was not against any government but rather the Coalition was informed by an objective and dispassionate assessment of the potential negative impacts of the EPA on the economy and the lives of the people, especially farmers and producers of goods and services.
Mr Emmanuel Kpari, Human Resource Manager of the Ghana Education Service, noted that only fair trade could be used to fight global poverty and called on civil society groups across Africa to rise and impress upon their leaders not to accept the EPA. He said if the new set of agreements designed by the EU, were allowed to come into force, European goods, which are usually labelled “For Export Only” would become cheaper in the domestic markets and thereby kill local industries and increase unemployment.
Source: GhanaWeb
