Nigerian traders in Ghana on Saturday decried the closure of their shops by the Ghanaian authorities. It was gathered that the traders were also issue
Nigerian traders in Ghana on Saturday decried the closure of their shops by the Ghanaian authorities. It was gathered that the traders were also issued a 14-day ultimate to pay the sum of one million dollars business registration fees and taxes to the Ghana Investment Promotion Council.
The President of Nigerian Traders Union in Ghana, Chukwuemeka Nnaji, urged the Federal Government to intervene in the matter. Nnaji said an Inter-Ministerial Task Task Force went round on August 10 to identify the shops owned by Nigerian traders and requested the registration of business taxes, resident permits, standard control, and the GIPC registration.
He said, “Most of our members do not have the GIPC registration, because it requires one million dollars cash or equity and they gave us 14 days within which to regularise. As of Thursday, they had moved to another area and started locking up shops of Nigerian traders.
“Nigerian life in Ghana matters. This is livelihood of Nigerians being destroyed by Ghanaian authorities. This is not being perpetrated by a trade union, but Ghanaian authorities. They also demanded that we must employ a minimum of 25 skilled Ghanaian workers and must not trade in commodities that Ghanaian traders have applied to trade in. The humiliation of Nigerians is getting out of hand. We are calling on the Nigerian government to come to our aid. We have legally registered our businesses and we pay taxes.”
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ferdinand Nwonye, said that though Nnaji informed him of the matter on Saturday but the ministry has not been formally notified by the Nigerian Embassy in Ghana.
