Open your borders for Ghana goods – Botchwey to Nigerian gov’t

The government of Ghana has said it will exhaust all diplomatic avenues to get the government of Nigeria to re-open its western borders for the free flow of goods from Ghana.

Nigeria partially closed its borders with Benin in August this year to curb the spate of rice smuggling which Africa’s most populous country said is threatening its attempt to boost local production.

The move also aims at stopping the movement of illicit weapons through various entry points.

The closure has affected the movement of goods and services from the West Africa sub-region into Nigeria through that section of the country’s border, a situation the Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA) said is causing its members to incur huge losses.

GUTA subsequently petitioned the government to act on the mater.

After a meeting with the Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Olufemi Michael Abikoye on 15 October 2019, Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey called on the Nigerian government to take immediate steps to resolve the border issue.

“As we speak, your goods (Nigerian goods) are entering Ghana without any problem and I think that we should find ways of isolating the issues and the country’s that you have problems with so that Ghana’s exports can enter your market without being lumped up with all these issues that have emerged,” she appealed.

She said truckloads of goods from Ghana have been detained at the Seme border between Benin and Nigeria for weeks, “and coming back to use the seaports will be a major problem” because the traders have lost millions within the last few weeks.

The Nigerian High Commissioner said Abuja would be willing to collaborate with Ghana to find a lasting solution to the situation.

“At the end of it, we’re helping our economies. The smuggling will stop and the issues we are going to discuss in detail after this [press briefing], we’ll put on the platform and at the end of it, all of us will be very happy about it, the sub-region will be happy, we will be able to generate employment and I appreciate you Your Excellency for calling for this meeting, it actually shows your diplomacy at the highest level and whatever you cover with respect to those trucks [Ghanaian goods], we shall convey to Nigeria,” he noted.