Day: December 6, 2023

Mr El Ghassim Wane, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s Special Representative to Mali, says the role of African institutions remained key in Peace Support Operations (PSOs) in war-prone Africa.

He said African peace support operations had significantly increased and diversified, with institutions like the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) playing important roles collaboratively.

That, he said, reflected both the ‘protracted nature of the crises confronting the continent and the proactiveness of the African institutions in responding to those challenges.’

Mr Ghassim, also the Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), made the remarks at the opening of a two-day seminar in Accra at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD), University of Ghana.

On the theme: ‘The Evolution of African Peace Operations and Best Practices for Future African-led Peace Support Operations,’ the seminar fo
cuses on the AU and African-led PSO’s partnerships with the UN and other international partners and whether the AU and PSOs should seek UN assessed contributions, among other discussions.

Mr Ghassim said building on the experience gained over the past decades, African institutions could make a meaningful contribution to the promotion of peace and security on the continent.

He said the factors that drove violence – many of which were linked to governance – needed to be addressed.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General noted that the AU, with the support of the UN, could address those challenges by building on its rich normative and policy framework on governance.

Mr Ghassim said the continued involvement of African institutions in the deployment of PSOs and in the promotion of security cooperation was all the more important as terrorism and violent extremism remained prevalent in large parts of Africa.

He said the AU and its regional mechanisms, given their willingness to deploy in situati
ons where peace had not really been fully restored, had a distinct comparative advantage that needed to be leveraged by the international community.

‘Hence the importance of advancing the agenda of the financing of African-led PSOs through UN assessed contributions. I do hope that the ongoing efforts to this end will succeed,’ he said.

‘We need to have a variety of tools to address the nature of African conflicts,’ he emphasised.

According to him, it was important that African institutions and the UN do not focus only on large operations, but also on other more flexible cooperation modalities, as exemplified by the Nouakchott Process and the Accra Process.

Major General Richard Addo Gyane, Commandant, KAIPTC, one of the collaborators of the seminar, said the evolution and constant change of the nature of conflicts in Africa reflected the challenges that African-led agencies faced in dealing with contemporary insecurities.

He said the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) of the AU and the Region
al Economic Communities (RECs), and the Regional Mechanisms (RMs) had played key roles through preventive diplomacy to ensure that internal political tensions and disputed elections did not escalate into violent conflicts with the potential to undermine the peace and stability of the continent.

He said while forging partnerships with the UN and other bilateral partners was critical for sustaining peace operations, a true assessment of the impact of African-led agencies must also reflect its short falls.

Maj Gen Gyane stated that African-led agencies dealing with security challenges were constantly being eroded by multiple governance failures on the continent, including the issues of poverty, unemployment and corruption, radicalization, violent extremism, and terrorism on the continent.

The KAIPTC, Maj Gen Gyane assured, would continue to collaborate with the AU and all partners through training, research and academic education to ensure the sustainability of African-led agencies in the promotion of peace a
nd security on the continent.

Professor Emmanuel Debrah, Director, LECIAD, said Africa was making progress towards sustainable development and regional cooperation, albeit challenges persisted.

The Director of LECIAD said Africa’s unique geopolitical landscape demanded tailored approaches and innovative strategies through collaborative discussions to cultivate deeper understanding of the complex dynamics at play.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has rallied the public to ‘strongly’ reject the Legislative Instrument (LI) on the Export and Import (Restrictions on Importation of Selected Strategic Product) Regulations, 2023.

The LI will compel importers of 22 restricted items such as poultry, rice, sugar, diapers and animal intestines to seek licences from a committee set up by the Minister of Trade and Industry.

At a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, the Party said the law could breed corruption, burden businesses that import the affected items, and worsen the economic conditions of the people.

Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader in Parliament, told journalists that the proposed restriction on selected imported products would impose additional burden on businesses.

He said the NDC was not against any legal regime or policy that sought to protect indigenous businesses by restricting import, but the approach adopted by the Government and the power given to the Minister of Trade in granting import p
ermits was problematic.

‘The regulatory framework is not only opaque but can lend itself to arbitrariness and abuse. This clearly is going to be an avenue for extortion and corruption if allowed to stand.’ Dr Forson said.

The NDC proposed what it described as ‘transparent quota system’ for the importation of certain products as was previously implemented in the poultry sector.

The Party also proposed the imposition of tariff and non-tariff measures on certain products to encourage patronage and consumption of locally-produced commodities.

‘A quota system requires a prospective importer of a particular product to first show proof of utilising existing local capacity by procuring a certain percentage of his intended import volume, locally.’ Dr Forson explained.

Last Thursday, the Minority halted efforts to lay the LI in Parliament and asked the Minister of Trade and Industry to undertake broader consultations with stakeholders to address their concerns.

Some trade associations, including the Ghana Union o
f Traders’ Associations, Food and Beverages Association of Ghana, and the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana have expressed misgivings about the proposed restriction, calling for a withdrawal of the L.I.

Dr Forson said the L.I. offended some international trade treaties and protocols that Ghana had ratified, including the World Trade Organisation Trade Facilitation Agreement, particularly on quantitative restrictions.

‘This could lead to serious retaliatory action by our trade partners and eventually affect exports from Ghana,’ he said.

The NDC also expressed worry over plans by the Government to introduce Value-Added Tax (VAT) on non-life insurance, residential and commercial real estate, domestic air travels, and excise duty of GHS100 per annum for all petrol and diesel vehicles.

The Party described the tax as ‘regressive’ and called on the Government to withdraw those regulations immediately and broaden engagements with stakeholders.

Source: Ghana News Agency