Shop closure: Nigerian businesses in Ghana are ‘under attack’ – ANC Ghana

The All Nigerian Community in Ghana (ANC) says it believes that Nigerian businesses in Ghana are ‘under attack’ following an impasse that has led to the closure of some Nigerian shops in Accra and Kumasi.

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

Addressing journalists at the forecourt of the Nigeria High Commission in Accra, General Secretary of the ANC, Isaac Osahon Ekhator said the government of Nigeria has failed its compatriots in addressing their plight in Ghana.

“We believe that Nigerian businesses in Ghana are under attack and it is a clarion call on the Nigerian government to activate immediate and definitive action towards an amicable and lasting solution to this impasse,” Mr Ekhator said.

He added; “There has been reported difficulties among Nigerians in Ghana resulting in the closure of shops that have occasioned extreme hardship and in some cases the loss of lives and this hardship has been escalated by the severe disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Ekhator however cautioned of the socio-economic and diplomatic ramifications the trade impasse could bring on both Ghanaian and Nigerian citizens.

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 Ghanaian traders and Nigerian traders leading some persons involved to be arrested while others were badly injured.

Meanwhile, 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.