African governments must be wary of the European Union?s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) agenda, which has been designed to keep African countries as perpetual suppliers of raw materials and erode efforts at industrialisation by the continent.
?Apart from threatening the food security and livelihoods of smallholder farmers, the EPAs would also thwart government?s ability to use procurement as a tool for social change.
?Besides, it will also take away the policy space that is necessary for government to direct foreign investors to areas critical for national development,? Mr. Tetteh Hormeku, Head of Programmes, Third World Network (TWN)-Ghana, said in Accra.
Making a presentation under the topic ?Trade Policy and Industrial Development — The Case of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)? at a public lecture organised by the Economic Justice Network (EJN), Mr. Hormeku stated that already liberalisation has led to uneven competition as the EU?s unwillingness to abolish agricultural subsidies has led to the demise of many African producers.
?If the EPAs come into effect, countries will experience a catastrophe. Signing to it will cover a large area of trade in goods and services.
