PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has proffered equal trade partnership between Africa and the European Union (EU) as the solution to the mutual migration menace inflicting both continents.
President Buhari suggested this in an opinion piece issued yesterday, put together to mark Nigeria’s participation in the ongoing 6th EU-AFRICA summit in Brussels, Belgium.
According to the President, the current over-flooding of entry borders of European countries by Africans seeking succour away from home had been as a result of the inequality of trade benefits between both continents, which happen to be biggest trade partners.
“By 2050, Africa’s population of 1.3 billion is set to double, making up a quarter of the world’s total. My country, Nigeria, is set to double its population to 400 million by then, surpassing the United States to become the third largest nation in the world. This means a huge youthful market right on Europe’s doorstep and – with increased trade – a growing middle class with money to spend.
“However, despite burgeoning possibility, irregular northward migration from my continent drains Africa’s talent pool, while provoking political crises in the EU. Despite its best efforts, Europe will not find a sustainable remedy to this problem by further reinforcing its Fortress Europe approach. Instead, more opportunities must be created for Africans at home, providing alternatives to the decision to take a life-threatening boat journey to seek them elsewhere.
“The relationship between the EU and Africa must be rebalanced to power job creation. Unfortunately, today’s arrangements do just the opposite.
“Where some claim preferential trade policies with the EU lend a helping hand to Africa, the real picture is far more complicated. The everything but Arms scheme grants 32 African countries tariff-free access to Europe’s protected markets. In addition to the fact that this excludes many of the continent’s 54 nations, there remain barriers to Europe’s markets even for countries that qualify,” the President said.
“For example, though agricultural subsidies to EU farmers may not be the same as external tariffs, their effects are identical: They make Africa’s exports uncompetitive. More than €50 billion is ploughed into keeping European food produce cheap. With its main export market distorted against them, African countries are deprived of foreign exchange, and investment in agriculture is stifled,” he said.
Deploring the inequality that the pattern of trade relations had bred over the years, he likened the nature of the agreements and opportunities available to each of the continental partners as something similar to what existed in the colonial era, describing how it had stifled industry and economies.