Ghanaian Authorities Order Nigerian Traders To Desist From Trades Involving Ghanaians

Another confrontation has begun between Ghanaian authorities and Nigerian traders after government officials went round to shutdown shops belonging to Nigerians in Ghana. The Ghanaian authorities gave Nigerian traders mandatory requirements which the traders said they can't afford.

According to the President of the Nigerian Traders Union in Ghana, Chukwuemeka Nnaji, Nigerian traders were directed not to trade in businesses that Ghanaians already applied for or are trading in. The authorities also ordered Nigerians to employ a minimum of 25 skilled Ghanaian workers.

The directive also includes a financial requirement, which stipulates that Nigerian traders must register with the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC). This requires traders involved in general trading to have $1,000,000 minimum foreign equity, but pay 31,500 cedis for the registration fee.

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The Ghanaian authorities gave the Nigerian traders two weeks to obtain the capital base of $1,000,000, but Nnaji said such a timeframe is impossible for the Nigerian traders, "Most of our members do not have the GIPC registration, because it requires one million dollars cash or equity and they gave us 14 days within which to regularise,” said Nnaji.

“As of Thursday, they had moved to another area and started locking up shops of Nigerian traders." Nnaji said, adding that, "Nigerian life in Ghana matters. This is the livelihoods of Nigerians being destroyed by Ghanaian authorities. This is not being perpetrated by a trade union, but Ghanaian authorities.

“They demanded that we must employ a minimum of 25 skilled Ghanaian workers and must not trade in commodities that Ghanaian traders have applied to trade in. The humiliation of Nigerians is getting out of hand. We are calling on the Nigerian government to come to our aid.” Nnaji said while disclosing that the Nigerian traders are registered and paying their taxes.

History Repeating Itself In Ghana

Last year, after President Muhammadu Buhari closed the Nigerian border in order to protect Nigerian farmers and traders against foreign goods saturating Nigerian markets, the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) retaliated by shutting down Nigerian shops in some of its cities.

Shops owned by Nigerians were shutdown in Kejetia, Suame Magazine, Adum, and Asafo markets across Kumasi, Ghana. Although the Ghanaian trade union said their actions in November 2019 was because Nigerian traders flouted the constitution of their country.

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GUTA said Nigerians were operating taxis, beauty salons, selling medicine, production, and sale of sachet water, among other petty trades which are solely reserved for Ghanaian traders. AllNews learnt that business activities non-citizens are excluded from are as follows;

• Operation of taxi or car hire service in an enterprise that has a fleet of less than twenty-five vehicles.
• Operation of a beauty salon or a barber’s shop.
• Printing of recharge scratch cards for the use of subscribers of telecommunication services.
• Production of exercise books and other basic stationery.
• Retail of finished pharmaceutical products.
• Production and retail of sachet water.

During the period of the border closure, the regional secretary of GUTA, David Kwadwo Amoateng, suggested Ghanaians boycott Nigerian goods because the border closure was affecting Ghana. The border closure had affected one Ghanaian company, Alomo Bitters, which lost revenue of about $2 million.