ARBITRARINESS has characterised relationships between many African countries for far too long. This is not about to change as contemporary events tend to show. Shortly after the wave of independence swept across the African continent, Pan-Africanism fervour reached fever-pitch and many charismatic Pan-Africanists emerged, calling for all countries of Africa to come together as states under a central leadership, akin to the United States of America. A few among those who promoted such an idea were Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigeria, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Patrice Lumumba of Congo (Zaire), Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Ahmed Sékou Touré of Guinea and Robert Sobukwe of South Africa. Their ideas of One Africa need to be revisited in the context of good neighbourliness and integration, years after they have left the stage.
Whether the idea of ‘One Africa’ promoted by these political heroes then was mere fantasy or one that was rooted in realism could still be assessed against the backdrop of what endured after them and how well or how poorly they fared. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was established on May 25, 1963, with the aim of promoting unity and cooperation among African nations. Regional Economic Communities (REC) sprang up in the north, east, south, west and central Africa. That was when, in 1967, shortly after the East African countries gained independence, they officially established the EAC by the Treaty for East African Co-operation, signed in June 1967 as an intergovernmental organisation aimed at fostering economic cooperation and integration across East Africa. The signatories were the presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional economic community of 15 countries, was founded in 1975. The Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC), a regional economic community comprising 16 member states, was born. SADCC was formed in Lusaka, Zambia on April 1, 1980, following the adoption of the Lusaka Declaration. It was later changed to the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) came into existence from October 18, 1983, upon the signing of its Constitutive Treaty in Libreville. The Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD) which was first founded in 1986, was renamed Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa in 1996. Of course, although many economic blocs were renamed over the years, their impacts are yet to be seen, The OAU itself is an example. In July 2002, African Union (AU) was officially launched in Durban, South Africa, following a decision in September 1999 by its predecessor, the OAU, to create a new continental organisation to build on its work.
It is therefore noteworthy to ask how much progress these RECs have brought to Africa, or what extent of integration have they succeeded in achieving so far. The impact of individual countries’ internal and local politics cannot be ruled out in the analysis involving the success or failure of those economic blocs. It may be asked how did South Africa degenerate into xenophobia within the SADC, or how Kenya is faring in relation with its neighbouring Somalia, or how Ethiopia and Eritrea are adjusting towards each other in the Horn of Africa, or how Sudan and South Sudan are coexisting. A few years ago, tension rose between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan on the creation of Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) wherein Ethiopia dismissed Egypt’s threat and continued the construction and filling of the dam. Whereas what was seen by Egypt and Sudan was a threat, Ethiopia saw an opportunity in the dam, risking cross-border skirmishes for daring the two other countries.
The crisis that recently broke out in Ghana against Nigerians in that country, rather than being a new problem, is actually a reigniting of a smouldering fire, with historical antecedents. Following a presidential executive order in 1983, Ghanaians were deported from Nigeria. It was surmised that the decision was a retaliation to Ghana after Prime Minister of Ghana from 1969 to 1972, Kofi Abrefa Busia, had first deported a large number of Nigerian migrants from Ghana. But, very recently, the outburst of protests in Ghana against Nigerians was triggered by other events which elicited harsh rhetorics and violent physical reactions from Ghanaians. In August 2019, Nigeria’s shared land border with Benin Republic was ordered closed till December 2020 by Muhammadu Buhari’s government, purportedly to prevent the illegal import of goods from the Benin side. The Ghanaian Traders Union cried out over locked goods In Nigeria. Although that was not the first border closure in recent times. Olusegun Obasanjo’s government had earlier closed the border for similar reasons but for a shorter period of time.
During the Buhari’s era, however, traders in Ghana labeled Abuja’s decision to continue shutting its border for an extended period as needless and un-African. It attracted harsh reactions. Ghanaian traders fought Nigerian traders doing business in their country and told them to leave. In November 2019, Ghanaian traders had told Nigerians to quit their shops by November 14, or be forcibly evicted. But, even ahead of the ultimatum, they began to make good their threats. As early as the first week of November, members of Ghana’s main traders’ union GUTA, stormed Accra’s shopping district, closing down more than 100 foreign–run shops. The hostility boiled over and received some official endorsement as authorities in Ghana have insisted that Nigerian traders in Ghana must pay a $1 million registration fee before they continue with their businesses, as part of the new regulations the country introduced for foreign traders. Moreover, Ghanaian trade policies have restricted the Nigerian traders to certain areas as they set boundaries on areas prohibited by Ghanaian law. In the process, shops belonging to Nigerian traders in Accra were shut by Ghanaian authorities who demanded cash payment of $1 million before being allowed to operate.
If all these restrictions did not discourage Nigerian traders from operating in Ghana, another trigger for anti-Nigerian traders’ protest was already underway. Rooted in fear, ignorance and xenophobia, the protest was to target Nigerian traders once again. It would take the form of a violent response to a Nigerian tribe that migrated to Ghana primarily as traders and would become a basis for hitting on all Nigerians in Ghana. The Chinese or Hausa people would carve out a distinct identity anywhere they live outside their own home base. That is evident in Sabo areas of major towns in Nigeria or elsewhere, or China Town in major cities, even in the US. In Lagos, there is a place built and designated as China Town, by the Chinese, without eliciting any negative reaction. The Igbo tribe of Nigeria, who are mostly traders in Ghana, tended to have been too simplistic in trying to establish something similar in Ghana, with the unintended consequences of reigniting the smouldering fire of intolerance and xenophobia, leading to the recent waves of violence and the strident calls for Nigerians in Ghana to return home and leave Ghana for Ghanaians.
The contradiction, however, is that, just about the time that African countries should be taking regional integration and economic cooperation more seriously, a country still feels justified to forcefully evict other nationals from a neighbouring country over cultural differences. It calls to question what the ECOWAS is doing to foster and improve regional integration. Moreover, the recently established African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has its headquarters office in Accra, Ghana’s capital city. AfCFTA is expected to boost regional integration and ensure unhindered flow of economic activities. But are ECOWAS and AfCFTA doing these? Are African countries really integrating or are they actually disintegrating?
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