Ghana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Alhaji Rashid Bawa, says Ghana-Nigeria trade cooperation has the potential to improve the livelihood of Africans through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCTA).
Bawa made the assertion in his keynote address at the closing ceremony of the maiden 2022 Chief Executive Officers (CEO) Business Council Forum on Thursday in Abuja.
The forum with theme: “Ghana-Nigeria Stronger Together” was hosted by the Ghana Nigeria Business Forum (GNBC) and Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), in a bid to strengthen trade relations between both countries.
Bawa said: “This forum is historic as it is the first of its kind since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic and the establishment of AFCTA.
“Indeed, this forum aims to encourage private sector operations and to pull resources together to be competitive, when trading under the AFCTA picks up.
“Africa is now the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organisation; a market of over 1.2 billion people and a combined GDP of $3trillion.
“This offers a huge opportunity to exploit our continent’s abundant wealth and resources for the benefit of our people.
“Ghana and Nigeria being the largest economies in West Africa enjoy a long standing sociocultural and economic relationship with potential to take advantage of opportunities of AFCTA, to create jobs and improve the livelihood of people.”
He expressed hope that the Ghana Export Processing Authority (GEPA) would resume its support for Ghanaian businesses to participate in trade fairs in Nigeria when the COVID-19 situation improves.
He further disclosed that the Governments of Ghana and Nigeria would continue to engage in finding an amicable settlement to the perennial tension between traders of the countries.
He assured that the Government of Ghana was committed to the timely implementation of the framework of engagement between Ghanaian and Nigerian traders.
In the same vein, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, commended the existing bilateral relations between Nigeria and Ghana to have been very cordial.
Onyeama was represented by Amb. Mustapha Mukaila, Director of the West African Division in the ministry.
“Nigeria and Ghana have excellent relations, and this programme that we have today is part of the framework for further improving and strengthening the relationship, especially in the economic field.
“We have a policy in the ministry called economic diplomacy; this programme is part of our efforts to further improve relations in economic fields with Ghana and other countries in the continent,” Onyeama said.
According to him, the government is working tirelessly to resolve issues between Nigeria and Ghana traders.
Meanwhile, Dr Al-Mujtaba Abubakar, President of Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), stressed the need to sustain organisation of the forum as a platform to deepen Nigeria-Ghana relations.
According to Abubakar, represented by Dr Idi Hong, Vice President, Corporate Communication and International Relations of ACCI, business-to-business relationship should be encouraged between both countries to achieve more meaningful growth.
Abubakar said: “Apart from diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Ghana, a business-to-business relationship is supposed to have been established on this platform.
“So that it will be a business-to-business platform for solving problems.
“If this platform was in existence, we will not have had the crises we are having between Nigeria and Ghana traders, because business-to-business relationship will have been able to address it.
“This relationship and such a platform should continue to be most frequent, so that it will first and foremost, create a close business-to-business relationship between the two countries and solve any problem, if any,” he said.
NAN reports that the forum was organised in Lagos on Feb. 16, 2022 and in Abuja on Feb. 17, 2022, respectively.
The event was attended by stakeholders of GNBC, Nigeria Ghana Business Council, Ghana Free Zones Authority, GEPA and Ghana Investment Promotion Council featured video presentation and panel discussion.
(NAN)