GUTA to resume trade with Nigeria as land borders reopen
Dr Joseph Obeng, President of Ghana Union of Traders Association
Members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) are bracing themselves up to take advantage of the reopened Nigeria’s land borders.
Read full articleSpeaking in an interview with Citi Business News, President of the Association, Dr Joseph Obeng, said the border reopening is a plausible move for his members.
“It is very good for us to start again the cross-border trading activity that was going on so definitely it is going to enhance upon the trading along the corridor which is welcome news for us. Now, trading is going to start in brisk as people have gotten the information that the borders are opened. People will go there to access the goods that they can procure from there.”
Although the land borders are opened, Dr Obeng believes that trade with their Nigeria counterparts would take off gradually.
“People have relocated to other destinations like Dubai and elsewhere to procure their goods. So, it’s not going to start very quickly like that, but we believe that by February to March this year, business will start in earnest.”
Nigeria’s land borders were closed to goods in August 2019, with partial openings and closings for people prompted by the coronavirus pandemic throughout 2020.
The border closure was initiated to stop what it called the smuggling of products from its neighbouring West African countries into the country.
President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari in December, last year, ordered the immediate reopening of four of Nigeria’s land borders, over a year after they were all shut.
