Lagos -- President John Kufuor of Ghana and immediate past chairman of the African Union (AU) has denied that Nigerian traders are the target of the legislation recently introduced in Ghana requiring foreigners intending to operate in the country to fulfill certain requirements.
Ghanaian authorities had introduced legislation requiring foreign investors to comply with certain conditions to qualify for legitimate business transactions.
These include obtaining work permits and licences as well as a minimum level of investment commitment of $40,000.
But Kufuor said such was the law in Ghana and it was not targeted at traders from any country.
The Ghanaian president also said his country and Nigeria were at present holding discussions in order to ease trade barriers between them.
Answering questions in Accra at the maiden edition of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum on Africa, kufuor said complaints by Nigerian traders in Ghana that they were being made to obtain licences was a legal issue.
"If we take the Nigerian traders here complaining that they are being made to take licences or something, it is the law that has been applied here, the Ghanaian President said.
"That law provides that foreigners trading must come in with a level of investment to be able to trade. If they fall below that level, then the law says 'No' to them," he said.
Nigerian traders in Ghana have been complaining that the legislation was aimed at placing a major barrier before them in Ghana, saying this was against the spirit of ECOWAS free trade among member-countries.
Kufuor said: "Yes, I acknowledge that we are into the era of ECOWAS and, ideally West Africans should be able to go anywhere, settle and trade without any requirements.
"Unfortunately, ECOWAS has not yet come up enough to the degree that will permit this.
"For instance, people talk of reciprocity. Ghanaian exporters complain that when they bring their goods to Lagos, the Customs people do not allow them.
"So naturally, when they see their brothers from Nigeria here also importing and operating here freely, they complain but when we go, they don't allow us, so why should we allow them here?'
"This is what I'm talking about with the government of Nigeria, so as to ease the bottlenecks for our people to be able to enjoy free trade among themselves. Nigeria and Ghana have a long history of commercial and cultural links."
Meanwhile, the Ghanaian president also took stock of his two-term tenure, saying the track record of his government had been positive.
Kufuor had assumed office on January. 7, 2001 and was re-elected in December 2004 for a second four-year term, which is due to end after elections in December.
"As I am on my way out, I believe the track record of my government has been quite impressive and very positive," he said.
The NAN Forum on Africa is a platform for African leaders to bare their minds on national, continent and global issues.
He said: "If you talk of infrastructure, in 2001, I told the nation that my government was going to operate on five priorities.
"The first one was infrastructural development, and that's exactly what we've done."
He said that his government was constructing modern, durable roads all over the country, including arterial roads out of Accra, adding, "all of them are being developed to the highest standards."
The Ghanaian President said that his government was executing projects aimed at boosting electricity and water supplies.
On education, he said: "We built over 5,000 primary schools; we are improving secondary schools.
"If you visit any of our state university campuses, you'll be amazed with the sort of infrastructure and improvement generally.
"The economy is also moving," the President said, adding, "For the first time in our history, we've set up a Ministry for Private Sector Development."
He said that the government believed that partnership between the state and the private sector would form the cornerstone of socio-economic development.
Kufuor, however, acknowledged that a lot still needed to be done with regards to economic development.
Kufuor also rated his country high in good governance among the countries of the world.
He said the status was one that gladdened him and his compatriots in Ghana.
"When you talk about governance, Ghana has been accorded the status of one of the best countries in terms of good governance everywhere in all the five continents of the world," he said.
"People here in Ghana are happy. We have the rule of law," he said, adding that the situation was different in the past.
"We have a high degree of respect for human rights. It is live and let live; there is extreme tolerance and this is attracting visitors and investors to the country,"
