FG Inaugurates Committee to Resolve Nigeria, Ghana Traders’ Conflict

Dike Onwuamaeze

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment (MITI), Mr. Adeniyi Adebayo has inaugurated an inter-ministerial committee that would look into the lingering conflicts between Nigeria’s business operators in Ghana and their Ghanaian counterparts.

The committee would also attend to the implementation of the signed joint statement between Nigeria and Ghana, which were concluded at a high level bilateral meeting between the country’s delegation led by Adebayo and representatives of Ghanaian government led by the country’s Minister of Trade between May 31 and June 2, this year.

Adebayo, in a statement by the Special Assistant on Media to the MITI, Mr. Ifedayo Sayo explained: “President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the constitution of a delegation to Ghana in order to engage and effectively find a lasting solution to the recurring dispute between Nigerian traders and their Ghanaian counterparts through a bilateral engagement.

“The lingering dispute between the two countries, which worsened with the eviction of Nigerian traders in 2007 and the closing of over 300 Nigerian traders’ shops in 2018, was as a result of renewed trade nationalism by the Ghanaian traders who felt edged out by foreigners in retail businesses.

“You may recall that in 2018, the problem was aggravated by the country’s efforts to enforce the GIPC Trade Act, which requires non- Ghanaian traders to have an investment portfolio of $1 million to engage in any retail business in Ghana.”

Adebayo said during the visits, the Nigerian delegation held consultations with all the stakeholders from Nigeria in Ghana including professional groups and traders, and, “the general concern especially from the traders was that the Ghanaian authorities have adopted discriminatory practices against Nigerians and other foreigners.”

He added: “The bilateral consultation between the two countries resulted in signing the Joint Statement that seeks to address the challenges.”

He said President Buhari has approved, “the establishment of this inter-ministerial committee to handle the implementation of the outcome of the joint statements; formalise trade and investment relations and address other critical issues between the two countries.”

The committee would be headed by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Evelyn Ngige.

Adebayo said: “The permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment will chair the Nigeria-Ghana Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Nigerian side while the Trade Department will serve as the secretariat while membership is from representatives of the following Ministries, Department and Agencies: Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Nigeria Customs Service (NCS); Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS); Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON); Federal Ministry of Justice; Ministry of Finance; National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC); Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF); National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP); Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC); Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC); Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCo); National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) and Progressive Ambassadors of Nigeria (PAN).”

He urged members of the committee to handle the assignment with the importance it required in order to find lasting solutions to the lingering problem.