The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has called for a new political order in Africa, urging continental leaders to deepen political integration and consider a federation with a continental president to strengthen the continent’s influence in the global economy.
He argued that individual national parliaments lacked the collective power to address Africa’s economic challenges, particularly its continued dependence on exporting raw materials while importing finished goods.
Rt Hon. Bagbin made the call at the forum convened by the Africa Governance Centre (AGC), the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) and CoSPAL in Arusha, Tanzania, to examine how parliamentary lawmaking, oversight and public-finance decisions could support economic transformation.
The Speaker, who is also President of the Conference of Speakers and Presidents of African Legislatures (CoSPAL), using cocoa as an example, questioned why African countries that produce essential raw materials continue to receive a limited share of the value generated from them, while much of the processing, branding and distribution takes place elsewhere.
Rt Hon. Bagbin said African countries needed to coordinate production, processing and trade to promote industrialization rather than pursue separate national strategies that could duplicate investments and weaken their competitiveness.
He maintained that greater cooperation among African economies could help build regional production networks, strengthen markets and ensure that the continent derives more value from its agricultural and mineral resources.
Rt Hon. Bagbin also called for stronger continental legislative institutions, particularly the Pan-African Parliament, arguing that national legislatures were often sidelined in major political and economic decisions.
According to him, African parliaments must work more closely together to enable elected representatives to influence the policies and rules shaping the continent’s development.
He further stressed the need for African countries to build institutions and education systems capable of producing the expertise required to address local challenges and protect their long-term economic interests.
The Speaker’s proposals raise questions about the extent to which African governments are prepared to pool political authority and coordinate economic policies when decisions on trade, finance and production remain largely within national jurisdictions.
The forum also introduced the Strategic Legislative Governance Platform to sustain cooperation among African legislatures beyond the meeting.
Rt Hon. Bagbin urged parliamentary leaders to match the scale of Africa’s economic challenges with greater political ambition, insisting that stronger continental cooperation was necessary to improve the continent’s position in global trade.
