Bebe Akinboade

GHANAIAN GOVERNMENT CLOSES NIGERIAN BUSINESSES

Spread the love

In spite of the visit
of ECOWAS Parliamentary
delegation to Ghana, the Inter-Agencies Task Force  went on to enforce the
law banning foreign traders operating in Ghana’s small and medium scale
enterprises (SMEs).
The taskforce closed shops owned by foreign
nationals at the Makola Market in Accra, and other markets invaded by these
non-Ghanaians, who were operating illegally in Ghana’s retail business sector.
The Inter Agency Taskforce comprise of officials
from the Registrar Generals Department, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, the
Ghana Revenue Authority, Police, Immigration Service, Trade and Foreign Affairs
Ministries earlier met to strategize on how to carry out the exercise.


Recently, the Minister for Trade and Industry,
Ms. Hannah Tetteh said the monitoring exercise by the Inter-Agencies Task Force
would ensure that non-Ghanaians fully complied with the Ghana Investment
Promotion Centre (GIPC) laws.
“The task force will move in the markets to
shut down shops of non-Ghanaians who flout the laws of the land,” she
said.
Ms. Tetteh noted that the provisions in the GIPC
Act 478 was applicable to Ghanaians and citizens of the Economic Community of
West African Countries (ECOWAS), hence the need for non-Ghanaians to comply
with the minimum investment requirement of $300,000.

The exercise went on despite strenuous efforts
made by the visiting ECOWAS Parliamentary delegation to Ghana to intervene on behalf of ECOWAS nationals.

The President of the Nigerian Community in Ghana, Mr. Albert Bayor, joined hundreds of Nigerian
businesses and called for a review of the law. They hoped that the visiting
ECOWAS delegation could come to their aid.
The implementation of the GIPC Act 478, which is
aimed at ensuring Ghanaians are not pushed out of business by foreign
nationals, has irked some Nigerians and other ECOWAS nationals in the
sub-region.
Recently, Nigeria, West Africa’s largest economy, threatened to severe diplomatic ties with Ghana.

bebeakinboade