Nigeria inaugurates Committee on Trade Disputes with Ghana

The Nigerian Government announced the inauguration of an inter-Ministerial Committee for the implementation of the signed joint statement between Nigeria and Ghana on trade Disputes.

The committee was inaugurated by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Adeniyi Adebayo on Tuesday.

This comes after a high-level bilateral meeting between Nigeria and representatives of the Ghanaian government led by that country’s Minister of trade held between May 31 and June 2.

The committee will be chaired by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Evelyn Ngige, as President Muhammadu Buhari, approved the constitution of a delegation to Ghana to engage in and effectively find a lasting solution to the recurring dispute between Nigerian traders and their Ghanaian counterparts through a bilateral engagement.

“The dispute between the two countries worsened with the eviction of Nigerian traders in 2007 and the closing of over 300 Nigerian traders’ shops in 2018.

“You may recall that in 2018, the problem was aggravated by the country’s efforts to enforce the GIPC Trade Act which requires non- Ghanaian traders to have an investment portfolio of One Million Dollars to engage in any retail business in Ghana.

“During the visit, the Nigerian delegation held consultations with all the stakeholders from Nigeria in Ghana including professional groups and traders.

“The general concern especially from the traders was that the Ghanaian authorities have adopted discriminatory practices against Nigerians and other foreigners,” he said.

The Minister added that the result of the meeting between both sides includes the signing of the joint statement that seeks to address the challenges, as the President approved the establishment of this Inter-Ministerial Committee to handle the implementation of the outcome of the Joint Statement, formalize trade and investment relations and address other critical issues between the two countries.

Members of the committee also included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigeria Immigration Service; Standards Organization of Nigeria; Ministry of Justice; Ministry of Finance, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.

Others are the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Central Bank of Nigeria; Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, the National Association of Nigerian Traders and Progressive Ambassadors of Nigeria”.

Last year, Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, said that Nigeria’s border closure in 2019 has hurt Ghanaians and nearly bankrupted many Ghanaian export businesses after their goods were stuck in the Seme Border for months.

This year the Nigerian government sent a delegation led by the Minister of Trade, Niyi Adebayo, to Ghana to end the crisis between Nigerian traders in Ghana and local authorities—an issue that started last year before the Ghanaian Presidential elections.

Ime N