Africa needs fair chance to trade with the world - President Mahama

President John Mahama has called for the removal of subsidies to farmers in advance countries so as to create an even field for Africa farmers to compete.

In an address to world leaders that focused heavily on migration, President Mahama said many Africa youth who engage in farming will have "fighting chance" if revenue and non revenue barriers to African products are removed.

He noted that the continent has a "significant share of the world's arable lands, a youthful labour force and a significant share of the world's natural resources."

He also bemoaned the building of new walls by countries due to fear of migrants. He accused extremists of hijacking the discussion on migration and spreading fear to young ones.

Hate speech is becoming common. People complain of being tired of being politically correct. In many places xenophobia has taken over rational thinking. In the vote on Brexit, the spectre of a flood of refugees was used as the instrument for propelling an exit from the EU," he said

"It's a paradox of our world, that nearly 30 years after Reagan called for the Berlin Wall to be torn down, new walls are springing up everywhere, he added.

He said the world has enough resource to guarantee a decent life for everybody, citing how little resources advanced to some African countries have been put to good use in education and halving poverty.

"And yet we have the resources in this world to guarantee each person a decent life. In the implementation of the MDGs, despite the minimal resources injected by the wealthy nations, we managed by prioritizing our spending to put more children in school than ever before in history. We managed to pull more than 40% of the worlds people out of extreme poverty," he said.

President Mahama said Ghanaians who embark on the risky journey to Europe are poultry farmers or entrepreneurs who "sell their shops and undertake the journey because they can no longer compete with the tons of frozen chicken dumped on African markets annually, or the adverse business environment they have to face."

He continued:"Africa does not need your sympathy or Overseas Development Assistance. Africa needs a fair chance to trade with the rest of the world and amongst ourselves. The progress towards the creation of a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) is commendable and must be fast tracked."

"Raising intra African trade alone from the paltry average of 15% will create better opportunities for Africa's youth.

"We can achieve a lot in collaboration with the rest of the world and yet we must realize that a lot rests within our own capacity to achieve as Africans. Recently I took the decision to allow citizens of other African countries travelling to Ghana to obtain visas on arrival. This would stimulate trade and investment if it were replicated across the continent."