Conversations and plans on Africa adopting a common currency has been swept under the carpet for some years now but the Commander-in-Chief of the Economic Fighters League, Ernesto Yeboah has recently resurrected it in an ongoing Pan African conference in Arusha.
Pan African movements across the continent have convened in the Tanzanian beautiful city of Arusha, to deliberate on the development and emancipation of Africa.
Speaking on Economic Justice and Dignity, Ernesto Yeboah said the adoption of a common currency is the pillar of African unity, a symbol of strength that its backers hope will emerge from efforts to integrate the continent.
He blamed neo-colonialism for the delay in its adoption which he says largely enables the theft of resources across the rich African continent, facilitated by corrupt leaders.
“There is the need for us to advance Pan Africanism as an alternative [to the current flawed system] going forward and in that Pan Africanism, we want to see one president, one African currency.”
The venerable social advocate said the adoption of a common currency will afford Africans economic liberation and dignity and strengthen economies, thereby eliminating the suffering and hardships created by the current corrupt governance structures and neo-colonialism.
“Our Cedi is used by just a little over 30 million people and so, right from the onset, that currency is useless and it is the same for almost all other African countries and that is why almost all the countries on the continent quote their prices in Dollars.
And so it is imperative for us to advance the cause that necessarily forces the leadership of this continent to adopt one currency.”
Mr. Yeboah also eulogized leaders such as the former president of Libya Muammar Gaddafi for his attempts and contributions towards achieving a common continental currency.
“When Gaddafi tried to do that, he was killed. He advocated for one currency backed by our natural resources and he was killed and so there is a section of our leaders that are afraid and there are those of our leaders that are with them willing and the only way for us to confront it is we the people uniting and making a call for that one currency.”
The three days [August 29 – August 31] conference, dubbed All-African Movement Assembly and organized by Africans Rising is aimed at soliciting the contributions of Pan African movements and activists in finding lasting solutions to the problems confronting the continent.
In August 2003, the Association of African Central Bank Governors announced that it would work for a single currency and common central bank by 2021 but that is yet to be achieved.
By Kabah Atawoge
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