Ranking Member of Parliament\u2019s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has cautioned the government to carefully assess the potential risks and benefits of Ghana\u2019s decision to join BRICS, warning that the move could have implications for the country\u2019s national interests.<\/p>\n
The Damongo MP said while membership of the emerging economic bloc could provide Ghana with new opportunities, including access to funding and diversified international partnerships, the country must not assume that the benefits would come without consequences.<\/p>\n
His comments come after Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced that Cabinet had approved Ghana\u2019s decision to formally apply to join BRICS, as part of efforts to diversify the country\u2019s international partnerships and deepen South-South cooperation.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Joy FM\u2019s Super Morning Show, Mr Jinapor said Ghana\u2019s foreign policy must first and foremost serve the country\u2019s national interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll foreign policy must be near to national interests. So there\u2019s absolutely no benefit in a foreign policy move if it does not inure to the national interest of a particular country.\u201d<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that joining BRICS could offer Ghana important benefits, particularly by expanding its partnerships beyond traditional allies.<\/p>\n
However, he insisted that the possible implications of the decision must be thoroughly examined. \u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no free lunch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018What is the implication?\u2019<\/p>\n
Mr Jinapor said the government\u2019s argument that BRICS membership could open up new sources of funding, particularly through the New Development Bank (NDB), required further scrutiny.<\/p>\n
He questioned whether Ghana would actually gain significant financial independence if access to such funding came with conditions involving existing international institutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are told that we may be in a position to source some new funding from the New Development Bank of BRICS,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cBut we are also told that even to access funding from that bank, there\u2019s a condition precedent that the IMF has to give authorisation. So if that is the case, what is the implication?\u201d<\/p>\n
The former Lands and Natural Resources Minister said Parliament must also examine the possible impact of increased economic and political influence from major BRICS countries such as China and Russia.<\/p>\n
He said questions surrounding the extent of Chinese influence on Ghana\u2019s economy and national life, as well as the implications of closer relations with Russia, should form part of the assessment.<\/p>\n
Ethiopia\u2019s experience<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr Jinapor further urged the government to study the experiences of countries that have already joined BRICS before Ghana proceeds with its application.<\/p>\n He cited Ethiopia as an example, saying its experience had produced both benefits and challenges. According to him, Ethiopia had benefited from assistance and funding opportunities through the New Development Bank but had also faced concerns over its trade imbalance and increased imports from BRICS countries, particularly China.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to take a look at what has been the experience of some of those countries which have joined,\u201d he said. BRICS currently has 11 full members, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n South Africa relationship<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr Jinapor also questioned how Ghana\u2019s existing relationship with South Africa could affect its participation in the bloc. \u201cOur bilateral relationship with South Africa is almost at the bottom\u2019s end,\u201d he said. He therefore argued that the government must consider what the current state of Ghana-South Africa relations could mean for Ghana\u2019s participation in a grouping in which Pretoria remains an important player.<\/p>\n \u2018We need a lot more reflection\u2019<\/p>\n Mr Jinapor said Parliament\u2019s Foreign Affairs Committee had only received a general briefing from the Foreign Affairs Minister on the government\u2019s intention to pursue BRICS membership and had yet to fully interrogate the decision.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need a lot more reflection on this particular move,\u201d he said. However, he stressed that Ghana\u2019s long-standing policy of non-alignment must also be considered. \u201cIt is all good to diversify our partnerships, but without doubt, this will come with some implications as well, some of which may be adverse to our national interest as a country,\u201d Mr Jinapor said.<\/p>\n The government says the BRICS bid is intended to give Ghana greater options for development financing, trade, investment and industrialisation while complementing, rather than replacing, its existing relationships with traditional development partners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ranking Member of Parliament\u2019s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has cautioned the government to carefully assess the potential risks and benefits of Ghana\u2019s decision to join BRICS, warning that the move could have implications for the country\u2019s national interests. The Damongo MP said while membership of the emerging economic bloc could provide Ghana with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123458,"featured_media":17775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3525,3507,18,386],"tags":[5560,2249],"class_list":["post-17774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-economy","category-national","category-politics","category-security","tag-brics","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/123458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17776,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17774\/revisions\/17776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHe argued that Ghana could learn valuable lessons by examining how membership has affected the economies and international relationships of the countries that have already joined the bloc.<\/p>\n
\nSouth Africa is one of the founding members of BRICS, but the MP said Ghana\u2019s bilateral relationship with the country was currently poor.<\/p>\n
\nHe acknowledged the government\u2019s stated objective of diversifying Ghana\u2019s international partnerships and strengthening cooperation with developing countries.<\/p>\n