Unite and fight for fairer world economic order – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has rallied the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States to remain united and fight for a fairer world economic order.

He said with the wealthier nations not eager to see an equitable and fair trade, it was imperative that the Group strengthened their cooperation to realise a new economic order where members were neither victims nor pawns.

“We have to depend on ourselves, and continue to fight for a fairer world economic order.”

President Akufo-Addo was delivering an opening statement at the 9th Summit of the ACP Group, in Nairobi, Kenya.

He said although the member states were confronted with the realities of fighting poverty, inequality, marginalization, their numbers "make us a formidable group in the world".

They needed to strengthen their co-operation if they were to succeed in addressing those challenges.

He added that reforms were urgently required in the multilateral arena, be it trade, or peace and security, and this could be best effected if the Group spoke with one voice.

“The threats of climate change, the phenomenon of illegal mass migration, and the scourge of armed conflicts, terrorism and violent extremism can be met head-on and defeated if we act together.”

President Akufo-Addo made reference to the 2018 Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and said, it “makes for sobering reading, as the ACP Region is described as having a ‘fractured economic and trade structure’, with economies of member states over-reliant on the production and export of raw materials.”

It was time for them to turn over a new page in their economic history, commit themselves to forge more value-added activities and to hinge their relations on a substantial increase in trade and investment co-operation. That, he noted, was the path to progress and prosperity.