Ghanaian businesses invade Nigeria

ABOUT 45 Ghanaian businesses and entrepreneurs are participating in the annual Lagos International Trade Fair currently underway in the Nigerian Capital, Lagos.

The fair, which is on the theme ‘Promoting Trade for Sustainable Economic Transformation’ started on November 2 and will end on Sunday, November 11.

Local businesses in the services, export sector, especially those in medical tourism and education are represented at the fair. Other products showcased include pharmaceuticals, household disinfectants, detergents, herbal products, shea butter and soap.

Businesses in the production and sale of textiles and garments,handicraft, beaded items, footwear, hair products and aluminium cook ware were also present at the Lagos International Trade Fair, one of three exhibition platforms on which Ghanaian businesses use to market their products to the Nigerian people.

The others are the Abuja and Lagos International Trade Fairs and the Arts and Crafts Fair.

The fairs are the initiatives of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), and their counterparts in Nigeria as well as the Ghanaian Embassy in Nigeria.

Some exhibitors told the Daily Graphic that the fair continues to provide the platform for them to showcase their products and to seek business partnerships in Nigerian market. The Nigerian market is considered the largest and most strategic one in the West African sub-region given the population of the country.

A ‘Ghana Day’ on business and investment forum was held at the sidelines at the fair to expose Nigerian investors and businesses to the various business opportunities they could take advantage of.

Participants in the forum included some members of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and representatives from the Nigeria Ministry of Trade. It was on the theme ‘Promoting Ghana-Nigeria Trade Fair for Sustainable Economic Development.’

Ghana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Alhaji Baba Kamara, said although the economies of the two countries had been growing in the last two decades, the growth had not translated into the economic development required to lift citizens from poverty.

That, he said, was because the “growth in our gross domestic product (GDP) was largely attributed to the growth in the oil and gas sector and other extractive industries. Therefore, for the needed economic development and transformation, we need to create the enabling environment that will see government and the private sector invest in the productive sectors of the economy where quality goods and services will be produced at competitive prices for domestic consumption and export,” he added.

He bemoaned the little economic successs chalked by the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS), nearly 20 years into its establishment.

“Little has been achieved by way of significant increase in trade among member states. While trade among European Union members stand at 60 per cent, that among ECOWAS members is below 10 per cent due to challenges such as exorbitant transit fees and extortion at the numerous check points in the various countries,” Alhaji Kamara said in a speech read on his behalf by the Ghana Consul General in Lagos, Alhaji Abdulai Abubakhar.

The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the GEPA, Mr Stephen Normeshie, said Ghanaian businesses were not only seeking to market their quality products in the Nigerian market, but were also looking for genuine business partners.

“Since trade is reciprocal, we have also been encouraging our companies to consider investing in the non-oil, non-traditional export sectors (NTEs) of Nigeria. We are much aware that opportunities in these sectors are huge and so it will take the goodwill, determination and transparency by the private sectors of both countries to exploit for our mutual benefits and in fulfillment of our sub-regional integration agenda,” he added.