Ghana and its neighbouring community, Nigeria have had closed ties for years
ABUJA, July 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The long standing dispute between Ghanaian retail traders and their Nigerian counterparts who have been engaged in retail trading activities in contravention of local investment laws – but allowed under ECOWAS protocols – may be about to be resolved at last.
Similarly, the other trade dispute between the two countries – that of Nigeria disallowing goods from Ghana entry into its markets in blatant contravention of both ECOWAS and AfCFTA protocols is to be resolved as well.
Last week, the Ghanaian and Nigerian governments, agreed to make a special law that would facilitate trade and address the crisis that has lingered between both countries.
Speakers of the Parliament from the two nations Femi Gbajabiamila (Nigeria) and Alban Sumana Bagbin (Ghana) disclosed this during a press conference after a closed-door meeting held in Abuja.
Head of the Ghanaian delegate Bagbin said a consensus had already been reached through a special mechanism that would prevent a recurrence of the conflicts that have occurred between traders from both nations over the past decade.
A special committee comprising selected lawmakers from Ghana and Nigerian is to work in alliance to enact the Ghana-Nigeria Friendship Act.
Through the Act, the joint committee would eventually establish the Ghana-Nigeria Business Council, in a deliberate move to foster good business interaction and friendship between the two countries.
“The Ghana-Nigeria Friendship Act will set up the proposed ‘Ghana-Nigeria Business Council,’ which is intended to provide the legal and institutional framework to sustain the continued friendship and business interests of our people,” Bagbin said.
According to him, Ghana “got assurance from both sides that the issue of trade dispute will be a thing of the past. We’re now putting up a mechanism to make sure that these issues don’t come up again in the future.”
For years, both nations have been at loggerheads over a controversial clause in the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act which mandates foreigners, including the Nigerian traders, to make a US$1 million commitment or a similar value worth of raw materials before being allowed to do business in the country.
While the Nigerian traders describe the US$1 million minimum business capital as outrageous, the Ghanaian authorities insisted that as a sovereign nation, it had the liberty to create laws that must be obeyed by all foreigners.
However, the situation has become more complicated by the commencement of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement AfCFTA, to which both countries are signatories. Under the agreement Nigeria is disallowed from closing its borders to goods made in fellow member nations. While Nigeria has flouted that provision with regards to its ECOWAS neighbours, such action will become more difficult to defend if all of Africa is being denied entry under AfCFTA protocols.
Now however, a permanent solution to the trade disputes between Ghana and Nigeria has become imperative, particularly in the light of their respective reputations as major potential trade and investment counterparties under AfCFTA.
Nigeria’s Gbajabiamila, in his reaction to Bagbin’s assurances, had described the closed-door meeting as successful, saying issues of interest to both nations were discussed.
He said a technical committee was already set up by the lawmakers to perfect the deliberations, and the committee members would be visiting Ghana this week.
Gbajabiamila applauded his Ghanaian counterpart for his resolve to ensure the trading crisis was addressed. — NNN-AGENCIES
