NDC?s Chris ADDY-NAYO said that Africa needs to reposition itself in the global economy and to develop the necessary capacities to reap opportunities provided by globalization. He called on African countries not to shy away from multilateral agreements such as the WTO and the EU regional Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) but to identify their specific needs and to negotiate to have barriers to African trade removed through these fora.

He said signing agreements without understanding its impacts on local economies and with no inputs from Africa only goes to exacerbate the current problems because of the obligation to comply with these agreements but without the understanding, capacity and resources to implement them.

Speaking as a Guest Speaker at the NDC Symposium held in Frankfurt last Saturday, he gave a pinpoint and succinct presentation on ?Trade in the Global Economy? under the symposium theme ?Ghana?s Economy, Improving or Worsening?.

He stated that the failure of previous political ideologues led to the building of inhumane structures such as the Berlin Wall and that the failures of current global economic policies leading to distressed economies in Africa have led to the building of similar inhumane structures in the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, a replication of the Berlin wall on the borders of Europe.

Furthermore he said solutions to better economic and trade policies for the mutual benefit of both Africa and Europe have to be found through persistent and ongoing policy-dialogues not only on a governmental level but also amongst civil society and like-minded political groups from both Europe and Africa.

Drawing heavily on the presentation by Mr. ADDY-NAYO, Dr Sascha Raabe, German SDP Parliamentarian and a member of the SDP/CDU Parliamentary Committee for International Cooperation and Development emphasised on the importance for the West and Europe to support Africa with both Aid and Trade. This he believes will help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and to reduce poverty in Africa. He argued that this is not only for the benefit of Africa but also in the interest of Europe since a juvenated African economy will provide numerous business advantages and opportunities for German and other European economies and encourage sustainable development which will help protect the environment.

Dr Raabe stated the determination of the German government to continue supporting poverty reduction efforts in Ghana and said that the political will to eliminate Western trade subsidies which deprives Africa of much needed revenues for economic development will complement development Aid in the fight against poverty.

In his final analysis Mr ADDY-NAYO stated that with all good intents, the best economic policies of any government will be undermined by the absence of good governance and weak democratic institutions.

Other Guest speakers at the symposium were the Minority Leader of Parliament, Hon. Alban Bagbin.