Reports coming out of Ghana say that the shops of Nigerian Traders within the country have been locked by the Ghanaian authorities.
According to Chukwuemeka Nnaji, head of Nigerian Traders in Ghana, the authorities are requesting for a Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) which requires them to pay the whopping sum of $1 million ( over N350 million) in equity. Another sum of 31,500 Ghanaian cedis which amounts to N1.5million is also required of them.
There’s more.
Nigerian traders must also employ “a minimum of 25 skilled Ghanaian workers” and they “must not trade in commodities that Ghanaian traders have applied to trade-in.” They were given two weeks to meet up with these conditions.
On August 10th, authorities began locking the shops of Nigerians who didn’t have the GIPC permit.
“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.”
As of Thursday, they moved to another area and started locking up shops of Nigerian traders.
“Nigerian life in Ghana matters. This is the livelihoods of Nigerians being destroyed by Ghanaian authorities.
The humiliation of Nigerians is getting out of hand. We are calling on the Nigerian government to come to our aid.”
In response, the Head of Communications of the Ghanaian Ministry of Trades, Boakye Boateng gave an interview to radio station Starr FM. Speaking on the issue, he described the complaints of the Nigerian traders as unfair. Apparently, the shops were previously closed in December 2019. They were reopened after the intervention of the President Nana Akufo-Addo.
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According to him, they’ve given Nigerians ample enough time from December to August to cough up $1 million and the other requirements.
“It cannot be that we’ve been insensitive. If that is what they’re saying, I’ll be disappointed because I’ll rather say they have rather been unfair to us as a regulatory body. Because we have given them more time than enough to the extent even the Ghanaians thought that the ministry was not on their side or the ministry wasn’t ready to even enforce the law.
So, it’s very surprising to me for them to say that we’ve not given them enough time. If you recall as far back as December last year, these shops were locked. The president intervened and we asked that the shops be re-opened. The very law that gives GUTA the right to be the sole traders in our market. That same law requires that a certain group of people are those who can go and do law enforcement and not you, so allow us to do our work.
They complied, the shops were opened. Since then we have given them an opportunity to regularise the document and submit it to us for verification, that has not been done.
Now, this exercise started from Abossey-Okai on Monday. Because we have never been to Abossey-Okai for this exercise. When we went there we did not just start locking shops. We went there, we inspected the shops. Then we gave them notices that in 14-days they should ensure that all their necessary documentation be complete. These people have been served notices for over a year now.”
Protests In Abuja
Punch reports that frustrated Nigerian Traders made their way to Abuja on Tuesday, August 19th to protest the harsh conditions they were subjected to in Ghana.
They carried placard and stormed the office of the Foreign affairs minister, demanding that the Nigerian Government come to their aid. The leader of the group Nze Ugo-Akpe Onwuka shared, “We have had enough. This has been going on for seven years. We are being harassed and targeted even though our documentation is up to date.
“Where is the ECOWAS protocol? This is not right. We have Ghanaians doing business here and they are not being harassed. Some of us employ them to work for us in Ghana. Yet the authorities there harass us for no just cause”
What is the Nigerian government doing about the situation?
BBC reports the Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama has condemned the moves saying the $1 million requirement is not in tandem with ECOWAS policy. He says his office will investigate the issue and if Ghana is found guilty, they’ll be reported to ECOWAS Court.
Meanwhile, there’s also news of recalling the Nigerian Ambassador over the situation.
The locking of shops comes on the heels of demolishing of the Nigerian Commission in Ghana by Ghanaian officials.
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