Nigeria to debar Ghanaian products ?

Vice President John Mahama on Friday expressed displeasure about unilateral decisions taken by the Nigerian authorities that barred some Ghanaian products from their market and called for dialogue to resolve the snag.

"It is not in the interest of our trade relations," the Vice President remarked, as he pressed for urgent mechanisms to verify the breaches.

Interacting with Mr Musiliu Obanikoro, Nigerian High Commissioner, at the Osu Castle, Vice President Mahama stressed the need for the two sides to work towards instituting mechanisms to verify the breaches and to institute reciprocal measures to avoid recurrence.

He said although a provision in the ECOWAS Commission Protocol on trade stipulated that items being exported from one member state to another should have 60 per cent local content, when there are apprehensions of breaches, verifications should be sought rather than the resort to slapping unilateral embargoes on products. He said the Ghanaian business community was unhappy that whereas Nigerians products are flooding the Ghanaian market, those of Ghana had been debarred from that country.

Per the Commission's treaty, goods are finished products used alone or mixed with other materials, provided that they represent at least 60 per cent of the total quantity of raw materials used in a member state. These included live animals born and raised within the member states, mineral products extracted from the ground, sub-soil or sea bed of member states; vegetable products harvested within the sub-region; products obtained from animals living or raised in member states; and products obtained by hunting or fishing within the member states. Others were products obtained from the sea, rivers and lakes within the commission; products manufactured aboard ship factories belonging to member states, used articles fit only for the recovery of raw materials, provided that such articles have been collected from users within the member states and scrap and waste resulting from manufacturing operations within member states.

Mr Obanikoro's courtesy call on the Vice President was to discuss trade issues with the Ghanaian government and how deepening economic relations between Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria can help change the image of under-development in the sub-region.

He was also there to solicit the Vice President's support in roping in Togo and Benin in the joint Ghana-Nigeria Business Summit platform, the latest which will be held from October 5 to October 7. Vice President Mahama welcomed the move as it will strengthen the relations amongst the neighbouring West African countries and promote free movement of people and goods.

Mr Mahama encouraged the private sector to use the summit as an advocacy platform to demand the enforcement of relevant protocols that could help promote trade in the sub-region.

He said because of the observed "general lack of will" amongst some West African governments to implement the protocols, it behoves the business community to effectively implement the protocol on free movement of persons and goods, and the right of residence and establishment.

Dwelling on Ghana-Nigeria relations, the Vice President enunciated the need to further deepen trade relations among the two countries. He said it should not be the case that trade volumes between the two friendly nations was as low as eight per cent while trade with the non-West African countries was fast expanding.

Mr Obanikro expressed the hope that deepening trade relations among West African countries will help grow their respective economies and bolster job-creation efforts. 18 Sept. 09