Robert Osei |
Is Trade a Fair or a Free concept? |
| Ordinarily trade is an exchange between a seller and a buyer. This voluntary exchange is supposed to be conducted freely and fairly so both parties come out winners. However, in the globalised scheme of things, developing countries believe they have been losers ab initio, whilst developed countries win all the time. What hurts is that developed countries have grown so sophisticated in their ‘cheating’ games that they either set the price of commodities or use non-monetary means such as bio safety or environmental concerns to refuse African agricultural produce from entering their markets. But then does knowing the game and playing along make one sincere in finding a solutio? Or is it a desperate situation, and are we confined in Africa to be farmers all our lives? Haven’t rich countries like Hong Kong developend without being agrarian? What about the trade barriers African erect amongst themselves? Why would Nigeria ban 96 Ghanaian products from reaching Nigerian consumers when they all belong to the regional trade bloc, ECOWAS? Will trade ever be fair, and is free trade not fair trade? Dr Robert Osei lead this discussion |
