Africa and Afghanistan
Ghana, a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has always been very active in developing cooperation with States on different continents. This cooperation concerns both the sphere of politics, economics, and peacekeeping activities under the auspices of the UN.
Ghana also strives to work in the field of resolving the most complex conflicts: in Rwanda, Lebanon, Liberia, the Balkans, and so on. Among the countries to which representatives of Ghana provided assistance, Afghanistan should be named as the most vivid and recent example in terms of time.
For Ghana, as well as a number of African countries that have freed themselves from colonialism, this noble impulse looks natural. At the same time, the principles of non-alignment with various world blocs are important for official Accra, which allows for an independent policy in all directions.
These principles and the international experience accumulated over the past decades make Ghana one of the most independent and authoritative participants in the emerging consortium of friends and partners around Afghanistan, which will help guide this long-suffering Central Asian country on the path of peaceful development.
African business, which has been booming in recent decades, can also become a very interesting partner for today and tomorrow’s Afghanistan as a direct, intercontinental link between ECOWAS and Central Asia (AF-AF).
Ghana, as a bright representative of the African continent with experience in the Afghan direction, could give its recommendations even on such difficult issues as the international recognition of the Taliban’s power in Kabul, as well as on the need to launch a broad dialogue with the Afghan opposition to form an inclusive government. Such a dialogue would be an important step towards international recognition of the Government in Afghanistan, consisting of representatives of various movements and parties.
Development is impossible without such a condition. Thus, Accra and other ECOWAS capitals would significantly strengthen their influence on current geopolitical issues, which would allow them to solve purely African problems.
The recent rise to power of the Taliban movement has disrupted the balance of representation of ethnic groups in the power circles of Afghanistan. The policy of so-called Pashtunization led to the displacement of ethnic Tajiks, Uzbeks and other national minorities from the administrative structures of Afghanistan from political life, which created social inequality and formed the protest potential of the population. This is just one of the many problems that should be solved, but without broad international support and information publicity, it will be difficult to achieve this. At the same time, Afghanistan remains a huge, unopened storehouse of raw materials that could have an impact on the entire world economy. Here, too, a wide field of activity opens up for traditionally active African business.
According to American, European and Russian analysts, there is currently no alternative to the power of the Taliban in Afghanistan and for the international legitimacy of the Taliban movement. However, if such recognition occurs, then one of the main goals will be the “unfreezing” of the gold and foreign exchange reserves of Afghanistan placed in Western banks. This is why it is necessary for the leadership of Kabul to fulfill its obligations to create an inclusive, multi-ethnic cabinet of ministers, contributing to the improvement of the socio-economic situation, as opposed to the current growth of problems.
For the practical solution of the tasks, both the internal and foreign policy problems of Afghanistan should be resolved simultaneously. In this regard, the support of the leading African countries could be truly unique.