Nigerian businessmen operating in Ghana yesterday cried out to the
Nigerian government to come to their rescue as Ghanaian authorities have
commenced closing their shops for allegedly operating illegally.
The Nigerian traders said their shops were closed because they were
said not to comply with the government policy which requires them to
have an initial capital of $300,000 and employ 10 Ghanaians before they
can start any business in Ghana regardless of the size of the business.
One of the affected Nigerians, Mr Ndukaku Mbanefo, who spoke to
Vanguard on phone from Ghana said the Ghanaian authorities started
closing shops belonging to Nigerians yesterday in Accra, the Ghanaian
capital and vowed that the operation will be nationwide.
According to him, “the authorities in Ghana yesterday closed more
than 40 shops belonging to Nigerians and they are still closing more.
They closed our shops because they said we did not comply with the
government policy that requires every foreigner who wants to start
business in Ghana to have an initial capital of $300, 000 and must
employ 10 Ghanaians to work with him regardless of the size of the
business. Even if it is just a small restaurant or a barber shop you
must employ 10 Ghanaians and show evidence that you have $300,000 before
you can start.
“There are nationals of other West African countries like Mali, Cote
D’Ivoire, Niger, Cameroon who operate shops in Ghana like us but the
Ghanaian authorities would not touch them. They target only Nigerians
and I don’t know why. In spite of all we do to boost their economy and
contribute to raise their standard of living, they don’t care, they just
hate Nigerians and discriminate against us”.
VANGUARD
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