The president of the Nigerian Union of Traders Association in Ghana (NUTAG), Chief Chukwuemeka Nnaji has reacted to the foreign trade impasse between the Ghana Union Traders Association and NUTAG by saying that the ECOWAS laws on trade must be considered over the Ghana Investment Promotion Center law (GIPC).
He was speaking in an interview with Kwame Afrifa Mensah when he disclosed that the ECOWAS law on trade mandates all member states to allow West Africans undertake commercial activities in the same condition as citizens of their countries.
According to him, if Ghana had adhered to this law, there would never have been a law banning foreign nationals from engaging in retail trade. “I am surprised there is a law banning foreign nationals from engaging in retail trade because when you go to Nigeria, you will find a lot of Ghanaians doing business without any form of harassment from Nigerians”, he added.
He however noted that since the GUTA and NUTAG cannot come to an agreement, the Government must come to their rescue.
According to the GIPC law, a person who is not a citizen shall not invest or participate in: the sale of goods or provision of services in a market, petty trading or hawking or selling of goods in a stall at any place.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah