Point of EPA Not Minority Position

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

Dr. Mawia Zakari's call on the parliamentary minority, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), in the main, to state its position on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union countries is not the most significant, or critical, aspect of the proposed commercial compact (See "Minority Must State Position on EPAs - Mawia Zakaria" MyJoyOnline.com 6/8/14). What is at stake here is a productive, foresighted and dispassionate examination of the draft agreement, which has also been, reportedly, placed before the other members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Perhaps the most critical aspect of the discussion is the danger of what might aptly be called the "Herd Mentality," that is, the curious and bizarre notion that, somehow, all the countries of the West African sub-region have to sing one tune. Nothing could be more preposterous. Inasmuch as we share a common colonial experience with the most economically advanced European nations, nevertheless, each West African country has its own particular and especial needs and aspirations, even as we glaringly witness the same on the political front. Seeking to adhere to the herd mentality, under the effectively jaded mantra of strength in unity, may not necessarily advance Ghana's present development needs and agenda.

In other words, the primary obligation of our elected officials is to the citizens and the voters who elected them. Thus looking over the proverbial shoulders of the Nigerian Congress - the senate and the house of representatives - for example, to confirm the righteousness of our stance and cause is neither the most intelligent nor the most constructive approach to the EPA compact. What needs to be focused upon are the advantages - both short- and long-term - that would redound to the benefit of Ghana; and as well, where the EPA stands not to be very beneficial, largely because Ghana lacks the same level of industrial development and capacity as its EU partners, wisely use the latter disadvantage as a leverage in advancing our industrial capability and capacity in the offing.

In other words, what I see here is an opportune moment for Ghana to benefit from European technology transfer in much the same way that countries like Taiwan, Singapore, India and China have remarkably benefited from the establishment of Western-owned manufacturing and vehicle assembly plants in these progressive economics. Myopically balking at signing the EPA on the dubious grounds that it will effectively kill our largely rudimentary local industries is not the most progressive approach to the issue. We need to boldly and frankly let our prospective partners appreciate the fact of their imperative need to assisting us to fairly and reasonably level up, or bridge, the yawning industrial chasm between the two ends of the partnership as a means of ensuring that the EPA registers the most mutually ideal and acceptable level of its beneficial intents and objectives.

It is quite understandable that the Africans, who potentially stand to reap the maximum of benefits from the EPA, are also the ones who are the more suspicious party to the proposed partnership. Our historical relationship with the Europeans, especially Western Europeans, has literally been akin to what the immortalized Nigerian novelist, essayist and thinker, Prof. Chinua Achebe once sarcastically, albeit all-too-accurately, characterized as the "Horse-Rider Relationship" (See Achebe's Hopes And Impediments).

Fortunately, with the dawn of the 21st century, it is increasingly becoming clear that their epiphanic realization of what might aptly be termed as "Enlightened Self-Interest," is enabling the Europeans to healthily appreciate the fact that in a globalized economy, the horse-rider relationship is decidedly obsolete and primitive. What is required for a peaceful global coexistence presently are two commonly destined horse riders.

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*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Department of English
Nassau Community College of SUNY
Garden City, New York
Board Member, The Nassau Review
June 15, 2014
E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net
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