$1m requirement: Nigerians should comply, we didn’t complain about border closure — Ghana Trade Union

Ghana Union of Traders Association acting Vice President, Clement Boateng, responded to the controversial $1 million fee being enforced by the Ghanaian authorities on foreigners trading in the country.

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Boateng said the payment of the $1m fee being enforced by the Ghanaian authorities, shouldn’t be seen as a xenophobic attack, Daily Times gathered.

“I don’t see any controversy surrounding this law (Ghana Investment Promotion Council Act) which was passed by our (Ghanaian) parliament in 1994. It used to be $200,000, then the law was reviewed and it came to $1 million, which you have to provide in cash or in equity if you want to enter the retail business.

“What is happening is, over the years, those who are supposed to enforce the law, that is, the GIPC (Act), have relaxed and they have allowed foreigners to flout the law with impunity. The Ghana Union of Traders Association has, over the years, complained to the authorities to try as much as possible to enforce the law, so that they can sanitise the retail industry. It is not that we are driving foreigners away.

“It is an investment law that was passed by the Ghanaian parliament. It is not even only the $1m that you have to provide. You have to even employ 20 skilled Ghanaian workers. You should ask Nigerian traders whether they have employed up to five or 10 skilled Ghanaians. So, for the $1m in cash or equity, if the Ghanaian authorities find it necessary to attach it to the investment, and a lot of people have satisfied it, I don’t see the reason why if you really mean to do business in Ghana, you can’t satisfy it.

“You can’t just go to somebody’s country and establish a business; you are supposed to satisfy the rules and regulations in that country. And if you are able to satisfy it, you will do your business freely without any stringent measure attached to it.

“If you meet the requirements, you are free to do your business. But if you don’t and you want to cut corners, that one is unacceptable.”

Boateng insisted the Ghana law had nothing to do with ECOWAS laws, noting that Nigeria closed its borders and no one complained.

He said: “It does not have anything to do with the ECOWAS Protocol. The ECOWAS Protocol does not supersede any country’s sovereign laws, and that is all the more reason why Nigeria found it necessary to close its borders without even giving prior notice to the other members because Nigeria found it necessary to protect its local industry. And up till now, it has not found it expedient to open the borders and nobody has complained. So, why is it that Ghana is enforcing its laws and Nigeria is complaining? We don’t understand. It is a matter of applying the law and it is not (applied) to Nigerians alone.”