The Right Reverend Professor Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), has called on African leaders to strengthen their economic blocs to protect citizens against imminent hardship.
Rt. Rev. Prof. Mante said building and strengthening both economic and military blocs was important in hard times just like what the world was experiencing now due to the twin events of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an exclusive interview in Tema, he said historically, such events like World War I and II brought in its wake hardships to the extent that buying essential food items was problematic.
He said just like the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the continent and region that quickly built and strengthened existing economic and military blocks would survive strongly.
He added that it was not enough for Africa to implement the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) explaining that it was about time that leaders planned and thought about how to solve the existing hardships posed by COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.
The PCG Moderator again said the current situation called for thinking in global terms instead of feeble minds that focus on local politics.
He suggested that Africa must group and regroup to solve its needs stating for instance that “knowing that we would need maize, can we have countries with large arable lands that can specialise in maize farming to feed the needs of African countries?”
Rt. Rev. Prof. Mante added that other countries could also specialize in other items such as iron rods, cement, and grains that the continent depended on other continents for.
He said it was about time that the youth had a different mindset from what currently existed to them thinking that politicians would solve all their needs for them.
“The youth should not believe that anyone can solve their problems for them, no politician can unless they can think about blocs regionally, how we think about education, and other things must change or we will continue to lag behind,” he emphasized.