Integrating West Africa will be difficult because of current insecurities – Akufo-Addo

Akufo-Addo says insecurities must be addressed to ensure full integration‘

No country would like to integrate with a country whose house is on fire’ – Akufo-Addo

There have been 3 coups in ECOWAS countries, recently

Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that the current insecurities in some countries in West Africa will make the integration of the sub-region difficult.

According to Akufo-Addo, for the sub-region to be fully integrated and the goals of the Economic Communities of West African State (ECOWAS) achieved, the fundamental causes of the insecurities must be resolved, asaaseradio.com reports.

The president said that leaders of ECOWAS countries must put measures in place to address the causes of the securities which include corruption and unemployment.

“It is worth noting that attempts at integrating West Africa, will be negatively affected in countries in the region continue to battle with the human security challenges which confront our peoples.

“No country would like to integrate with a country whose house is on fire. West Africa integration, the dreams and aspirations of our forebears cannot be achieved without peace and stability in the region,” he said, at a ceremony to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, Nigeria.

Ghana’s president, who is also the chairman of ECOWAS, added that “Efforts must therefore be made to address the root causes of insecurity and instability in ECOWAS such as underdevelopment, poverty, corruption, inequitable access to resources, youth unemployment, human rights abuses, climate change, weak law enforcement and governance institutions, and unconstitutional change of government, in order to consolidate peace and prevent relapse into violence as a feature of State management.”

The West African sub-region has recently seen some political upheavals including three military overtakes in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, as well as an attempted coup in Guinea.

Also, Jihadist activities have increased in the sub-region with recent attacks in Burkina Faso close to Ghana’s border and also in Mali.