Yofi Grant, CEO, GIPC
Members of the Mobile Phone & Accessories Dealers Association (MPAADA) have expressed displeasure about the decision of the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) to review downwards the $1 million threshold required by law to permit a foreigner to do business in Ghana.
According to the association, foreigners would take over the retail trade if the decision was implemented, adding that the move would virtually deny local people any space to operate in the sector.
They said they would oppose the GIPC’s decision to revise the threshold down to favor foreign traders at the expense of the Ghanaians.
Chief Executive of GIPC, Yofi Grant, is said to have recently told the media that he intended to review the required threshold downwards to allow more foreigners to do business in Ghana.
However, Freddie Mantey Akorle, chairman of the phone dealers, said the action by GIPC would stimulate unhealthy competition between the foreigners and the local businessmen.
He said the association was not happy with the GIPC’s decision at all and would resist any attempt by the center to review the threshold downward.
Disadvantage to local retailers
“If you take loan from China, the interest on it is between just 6 to 7 percent. With the Lebanese is even lower because they have something they call Islamic loan where the interest is zero.
“So how can a Ghanaian who has taken loan with interest of 35 percent compete with those taking 6 to zero percent.”
He further disagreed with the GIPC boss’ assertion that Ghanaian traders needed incentives not protection, adding, “How on earth can you compete with these foreign traders on the retail market considering their low interest payment on loans they take in their countries to come and do business here.
“What kind of incentive can GIPC give us which can make us compete with these foreigners? “We are not interested in his incentive, what we want is for him to implement the Parliamentary Act 865, 2013. This is what we want,” he said.
Sack foreigners doing retail
Mr. Akorle wondered why GIPC had failed to implement the laws that prohibit foreigners from operating from the central business area in Ghana, adding that attempts by traders in Ghana to flush these foreigners out from the central business areas had proved futile.
“GIPC must chase them out before the foreigners chase us out of business. Their presence is causing a lot of chaos at the market which does not auger well at all,” he said.
Foreigners causing chaos
Mr. Akorle said the foreign traders had devised new strategies where they were redirecting customers of well-known Ghanaian mobile phone shops to theirs.
“What they do is that one of them will come and stand in front of a popular Ghanaian shop and redirect customs of the shop to their shops and they will sell to them inferior products at a cheaper rate.
“This is creating problems at the market, resulting in fierce confrontation between the Ghanaians and the foreign traders. The customers also return to complain about the inferior phone sold to them and it turns into a fight. We have reported several times to government but no action has been taken. This is not good and GIPC must take action now before the situation gets out of hand,” he said.
Foreigners with Ghanaian passport
“Some of foreigners have acquired Ghanaian passports so anytime time we confront them then they display their Ghanaian passport to prove their nationality, but whether the passport is genuine or not is another question that demands an answer.”
He urged the GIPC to implement the laws and make sure the foreigners are removed from the central business areas in Ghana.
By Samuel Boadi