None of our trade laws are in breach of ECOWAS, WTO protocols – Oppong Nkrumah

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has affirmed Ghana has not breached any trade laws in regards to the ongoing trade impasse trade between Ghana and Nigeria.

Last year, some foreign-owned retail shops of Nigerians were forced to shut down on the basis that their presence was ‘illegal’.

Reacting to some allegations made out by the Nigerians, the information minister at a press briefing on Monday, August 31 described the allegations as unjustified and inaccurate.

“As we speak, none of Ghana’s trade laws are in breach of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) or World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and regulations. Indeed, there has been occasions for some other countries to report the Republic of Ghana to some international platforms and it was ruled in Ghana’s favour,” Oppong Nkrumah said.

“We in [Ghana] are firmly acting in concert with the African Union regulations and municipal law in Ghana. It is true that our Nigerian colleagues closed their borders to trade last year. We sent a delegation to Nigeria to engage on that and we were not successful in that enterprise because the [Nigerians] argued that they were protecting their national interest but we continue to engage on that front,” he explained.

In December 2019, the Ghana Union of Traders (GUTA) locked up over six hundred shops belonging to Nigerian retailers at Nkrumah Circle in Accra.

Most of the shops belonging to Nigerian traders in Kumasi in the Ashanti region were also forced to shut down that year after Ghanaian traders alleged that Nigerian traders had taken over the retail business in the country.

This move caused a clash between some Ghanaian traders and Nigerian traders leading persons involved to be arrested while others were badly injured.

Also, the Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association is calling on the government to implement the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act, GIPC Act, 2013 (Act 865), to prevent foreigners in the country from engaging in retail trade.

The group wants the Presidential Committee on Retail Trade set up by the government to vet the operating documents of foreigners in the retail business.