The Nigerian and Ghanaian Parliaments have agreed to work together to resolve the trade standoff between the two countries.
The Speaker of Ghana Parliament, Alban Bagbin, said this in an address to the Nigerian House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The Ghanaian lawmaker was invited to the House to address members in line with the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila’s “Parliamentary diplomacy.”
Speaking on the trade impasse and the lingering crisis, Bagbin said the government of Ghana has resolved to review the capital requirement for trading enterprises under the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act, 2013(Act 865).
He said with the Ghana-Nigeria Friendship Act, the proposed “Ghana-Nigeria Business Council” will be set up to provide the legal and institutional framework to sustain the continued friendship and business interests of both countries.
It would be recalled that Gbajabiamila and the former speaker of the Ghana Parliament, Mike Oquaye, met back in September 2020 following the backlash over the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act.
Following the closure of Nigeria’s Seme Border in August 2019, the Ghanaian authority started the enforcement of the $1 million requirements for non-Ghanaian trading enterprises. The policy reportedly led to the closure of about 300 shops belonging to Nigerians.
The Nigerian Mission’s property located at No. 19/21 Julius Nyerere Street was also demolished.
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