Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has disclosed that President John Dramani Mahama is working to bring back the three countries that recently opted out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, all led by military juntas, formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and finally left the West African bloc in January this year.
The split was sparked after the leaders of these countries refused ECOWAS’s demand to restore constitutional rule in their respective countries.
Mr Ablakwa in an interview with journalists in Accra, on Saturday, said the engagement with the three countries was underway.
“Already, President Mahama has moved in to ensure that Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso come back to the ECOWAS fold. He has appointed a special envoy, he is holding talks. He is scheduled to pay state visits in the next few weeks,” the Minister of Foreign Affair revealed.
Although the breakaway was not a new thing on the continent, having a united front remained the best option in improving the well-being of the people, Mr Ablakwa said.
He mentioned that, “If you look at the history of our continent, this is not new. We’ve had the Ghana-Mali-Guinea union which, if you like, served as a precursor to even the then Organisation of African Unity.”
“So, every now and then you will have this blocs, this many groupings, but everyone recognises that the only way, as Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, said, is to unite, put our forces together, have a common market, have a common bank, have a common standby force.”
Outlining Ghana’s foreign policy for the next four years, the Minister stated that the government would continue to pursue a neutral policy that was nonaligned, being a friend to all countries and an enemy to none.
Mr Ablakwa continue that, “In all of what we do, our fundamental objective is to ensure that the decisions we take inure to the best interest of our people. We are not going to be caught up in the ways and proxy wars, conflict and contestations of other powers.”
He further indicated that Ghana would not hesitate to join other regional and global blocs such as the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) bloc if it considered the conditions as favourable, as a way of expanding its trade frontiers.
Meanwhile, BRICS is a partnership of five leading emerging markets and developing countries, founded on historical bonds of friendship, solidarity and shared interests.
Together, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa represent over 42 per cent of the global population, 30 per cent of the world’s territory, 23 per cent of Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and 18 per cent of global trade.
Moreover, Mr Ablakwa indicated that, “If you look at the international forces now, you cannot ignore BRICS. You are talking about a combined market population of more than 40 per cent of the total population of the world, combined GDP of more than 27 trillion and they have really put in place structures which are quite enticing.
“So, any day, I will recommend that we should have more options, be building more relationships, forging more partnership moving forward so that we are not restricted and limited.”
Additionally, Mr Ablakwa said, security would play a critical role in the country’s foreign policy consideration to protect Ghanaians from external threats such as terrorism. – GNA
