The Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur on Wednesday joined the Beninois President, Mr Yahyi Boni and former Nigerian Head of State,General Olusegun Obasanjo during the opening ceremony of the Group of Eminent Persons of the African, Carribean and Pacific Group (ACP)  in Cotonou.

In his opening remarks, Mr Boni cautioned governments' of member countries to take concrete and immediate actions to address the issue of unemployment especially among the youth.

According to him, the issue of unemployment had become a powder keg threatening the smooth and orderly development of ACP countries and the rest of the world.

He explained that while public sector jobs were dwindling, preventing it from absorbing the unemployed , the private sector which was seen as the engine of growth cannot expand much  due to their ever increasing cost of production.

The Beninois President further explained that the problem had become more compounded due to the fact that educational institutions from the basic to the tertiary  turn out thousands of graduates onto the labour market  .

He said the time has come for governments' of member countries to think outside the box since there was the tendency that the unemployed could be exploited to cause social discontent by disgruntled elements within the society.

President Boni also mentioned environmental degradation, poor terms of trade, fluctuation  prices of export commodities resulting in dwindling foreign exchange receipts as areas where participants should dispassionately discuss to arrive at logical positions for the benefit of member countries.

He said falling commodity prices have had a deleterious effect on the economies of member countries throwing out of gear economic projections to the detriment of the people.

The General Secretary of the ACP Group, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni said the current trajectory of global economics indicated that member countries must continuously review their actions to maintain their economies and  raise the material conditions of the broad masses of the people.

The Chairman of the Eminent Group of Persons, General Obasanjo said members of the group were working around the clock to address concerns of member countries which  were especially related to the maintenance of their economies against the background of what he described as weak global  economic system