Quit Notice To Foreigners To Vacate Ghana’s Retail Markets, Nigerians Not Affected – Minister

Ghana has explained that Nigerian traders were not affected by the recent quit notice to foreigners to vacate the country’s retail markets.

The Ghanaian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor-Botchwey, made the explanation on Monday in Abuja when she paid a courtesy visit on her Nigerian counterpart, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama.

Foreign nationals engaged in retail business in Ghana were on July 11 issued a quit notice to vacate the country’s markets. Ghanaian law reserves operation of retail business only for citizens.

The National Association of Nigerian Traders had warned that the quit notice could spark xenophobic attacks.

However, Botchwey maintained that Nigerians and other ECOWAS citizens were not affected by the quit notice.

“This has nothing to do with our ECOWAS brothers and sisters. It was more to do with other nationals.

“Yes there is a problem that Nigerians and other ECOWAS citizens have been cut up in this issue of traders being given quit notice to exit our markets with their retail trade which is, by the law of Ghana, reserved for Ghanaians.

“Our government is doing what it can; sitting with the Ghana Traders Association to ensure that there is that understanding that it has nothing to do with Nigerian and other ECOWAS traders.

“Even at the governmental level, we are dealing with and the president himself is handling the matter to ensure that it does not escalate,” she said.