National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has called for a fundamental restructuring of the global economic order, arguing that political independence alone is insufficient if nations remain constrained by external economic forces.

Addressing the Third Meeting of the Standing Committee of the International Movement for the Freedom of Nations in St. Petersburg, Russia, Mr Asiedu Nketia said Africa's quest for true sovereignty remains unfinished because many developing countries continue to operate within economic systems they neither designed nor control.

Drawing on the philosophy of Ghana's first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, he said political liberation must be accompanied by economic independence.

"When Kwame Nkrumah declared that political independence would be meaningless without economic independence, he was identifying one of the enduring questions of the modern international system," he said. "More than six decades later, that question remains unresolved."

According to him, while many African countries gained political sovereignty decades ago, they continue to face economic constraints imposed by global financial systems, trade regimes, technology ownership structures and international institutions.

"Independence answered the question of who would govern. It did not necessarily answer the question of who would shape the conditions under which nations develop, trade, industrialise and prosper," he stated.

Mr. Asiedu Nketia argued that although formal colonial rule has ended, new forms of influence continue to shape the fortunes of developing nations.

"Colonialism was visible. It governed openly and justified itself explicitly. Modern forms of influence are often embedded within financial markets, trade regimes, technology ownership, development finance, intellectual property systems and international institutions," he noted.

He questioned the extent to which countries can claim full sovereignty if major determinants of their economic future remain largely beyond their control.