The senate has asked its committees on foreign affairs, trade and investments to investigate the alleged discrimination of Nigerian businesses in Ghana.
In a statement in Abuja, Ezrel Tabiowo, special assistant on press to senate president, said the decision was reached during plenary on Tuesday.
Ifeanyi Ubah, senator representing Anambra south, had moved the motion on the need to investigate alleged ill-treatment and injustices suffered by Nigerian traders in the neighbouring country.
Ubah said many Nigerian businesses were established in Ghana following the desire of the country’s government to promote trade relations with Nigeria under one of its former presidents.
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According to the lawmaker, the presence of Nigerian businesses created thousands of jobs and contributed to the growth of the Ghanaian economy.
“As at the end of 2010, Nigerian businesses accounted for sixty percent of foreign investments in Ghana from the African continent,” Ubah said.
“Of recent, the once flourishing economic relations between Nigeria and Ghana have come under repeated threats as a result of recent hostile posture of Ghanaian authorities and indigenous Ghanaian Traders Union towards Nigerian traders through the adoption of discriminatory regulations aimed at frustrating Nigerian traders and businesses such as the passage of the Ghana Investment Promotion Commission (GIPC) Act.”
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The senator said the act “raised the amount of money in registering businesses owned by foreigners – who are mostly Nigerians – in Ghana to USD$200,000 and further restriction and prohibition of foreigners from trading in particular markets.
“Molestation of Nigerian traders and other hostile acts directed against Nigerian businesses such as the recent closure of over six hundred shops and businesses belonging to Nigerians carried out by the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) on December 2, 2019.”
Ubah added that among the obstacles placed on the way of Nigerian entrepreneurs is the requirement of proof of importation of $1 million into Ghana as applicable to citizens of non-ECOWAS member states such as China and India.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan asked the federal government to liaise with Ghanaian authorities to find a solution to the problem.
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“I think the time has come for Nigerian authorities to engage the Ghanaian authorities with the single mind of getting a solution to this problem because this has been happening for a long time,” Lawan said.
In October, the Ghanaian traders union had called for a boycott of goods imported from Nigeria, following the closure of the Nigerian land borders.
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