Ghana and Nigeria propose Business Council

Business News for Sunday, September 6, 2020

Source: GNA

2020-09-06

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Ghana and Nigeria are considering the adoption of legislation, to be called the “Ghana-Nigeria Friendship Act” proposed by the “Ghana-Nigeria Business Council” to guide the two nations’ friendship, investment and trade affairs.

Consequently, a meeting would soon be held between the Trade and Foreign Affairs Committees of the Legislatures of the two West African sister nations, to deliberate on the applications of the Trade Laws.

The proposed meeting would in particular discuss Ghana’s Investment Promotion Law, the GIPC Act 2013 (Law 865) and make recommendations for appropriate solutions.

The chairmen of the legislatures of the two West African nations, Professor Aaron Michael Oquaye of Ghana and his Nigerian counterpart, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, accepted the proposal at the end of a bilateral meeting, in which a 12-member parliamentary delegation participated. from Nigeria and the Speaker and leadership of the Ghanaian Parliament, as well as some key ministers of the Government of Ghana, in Accra.

The proposed moves were announced in a joint statement at a press conference by the two speakers, in Accra, before the speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives left for Abuja.

The communiqué was read jointly by Mr. Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah, Secretary of Parliament of Ghana, and Mr. Benjamin Kalu, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria, in the presence of the two speakers.

The meeting aimed to resolve business challenges between Accra and Abuja and improve their international relations following the recent closure of stores by some foreigners, including some Nigerians in Ghana who had allegedly violated Ghana’s national trade laws.

The meeting recognized that the limited appreciation of Ghana’s trade laws and the implementation of the GIPC Act had resulted in the closure of some retail stores and urged GIPC and Trade Attaches to educate their citizens on trade laws.

He also discussed the $ 1 million capital requirement for foreign retailers in Ghana and asked the Commerce Ministries of the two nations to work out modalities to meet the required capital requirement.

The meeting also discussed the demolition of some properties belonging to the Nigerian High Commission in Accra.

The delegation also met with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who assured them of the safety of Nigerians in Ghana.

The statement called for measures to be taken to support compliance with the law to properly regularize their businesses in the face of the devastating impact of COVID-19 on businesses and families.

He stressed the need to make efforts to ensure that the ECOWAS Agenda for the free movement of people and goods for the sake of a prosperous and shared future for the citizens of the subregion is not compromised.