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Ghana's Foreign Affairs Minister calls for introspection on African conflicts and migration at AU meeting
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs, addressed the African Union Executive Council's extraordinary meeting on Conflict Resolution and Prevention in Angola. He urged African leaders to conduct an honest introspection into the causes of conflicts, unemployment, and mass migration on the continent. Ablakwa emphasized the need to end the normalization of conflict and extremism, stating that Africa is running out of time to achieve a transformed future. He identified injustice, limited opportunities for young people, underdevelopment, corruption, resource exploitation, intolerance, and insincerity as key drivers of conflict. The Minister also cautioned against African countries becoming pawns for proxy forces. He called for resources currently used to finance conflicts to be redirected towards creating employment opportunities, especially for the youth. Ablakwa cited the recent images of over 72,000 young Africans attempting to cross into Ceuta, a Spanish enclave, as a stark reminder of the urgent need to address unemployment and other factors driving migration. He stressed that leaders must move beyond addressing symptoms and confront the underlying conditions breeding instability.