We will resist attempts to make exceptions to the GIPC law banning foreign retailers – GUTA smokes

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has said it will fiercely resist any attempt by the government to change the GIPC law, which restricts foreigners’ access to Ghana’s retail space.

This is not the first time the Union has demanded that the GIPC law be applied to the letter, however, the recent appeal comes after the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, announced a revision of the 2013 GIPC law, the Law 865 required capital of $ 1 million for Nigerian retailers to operate in Ghana.

Speaking to Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Bagbin said the development would end the long-standing trade stalemate between Ghana and Nigeria.

But according to GUTA President Dr Joseph Obeng, this proposal puts Ghanaians at a disadvantage over the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“In practice, it is impossible to gain any benefit under the AfCFTA, if members engage in trade in goods that are not produced in the respective member countries. We find it hard to understand a leader of the sub-regional bloc who cannot draw the line between what is allowed in the trade space under our respective sovereign laws and the provisions of the international protocols and treaties we have signed or ratified as member states, ”he said.

Dr Obeng added that the union would not agree to the abolition of the GIPC law, which protects their retail space.

“We, members of the Ghanaian trading community, have never and never will prevent any African among us from freely trading in goods and services produced in member states, but we will fiercely resist any abuse of the rules of origin by Member States. If there was to be an amendment to our investment laws regarding foreign retailing in this country for Ghanaians to approve it, then it should be this: for having signed or ratified the ECOWAS protocol and the AfCFTA, any member state citizen made in their respective countries should be totally exempt, ”he added.

GUTA said it is not opposed to any arrangement to strengthen its trade relationship with Nigeria, but believes that all such arrangements should be in line with broader national laws and not be done in isolation.

“It should not be said that the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic of Ghana under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin represented himself without considering the concerns of citizens and imposed a backward amendment of the GIPC law to please other countries rather than Ghanaians who are losing their livelihoods and jobs.

“Regarding the Ghana-Nigeria Friendship Act, which will lead to the establishment of the Ghana-Nigeria Business Council, we have no problem with an agreement that will strengthen our trade relations with any country except in the context of ECOWAS our neighbors within the sub-regional bloc, we should not do it in isolation, ”noted Dr Obeng.

—Press room