₦airaland Forum

“The recent visit to Ghana by the Speaker of House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila to Ghana helped change the basis of the trade war between Ghanaian and Nigerian spare parts dealers in that country, according to the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), Ghana chapter.

Vice-President of NIDO-Ghana, Mr. Kingsley Attoe, who disclosed this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday, praised Gbajabiamila for intervening, saying it was timely.

“Currently, Nigerians are waiting to see the outcome of the meetings he had.

“Two days ago, he met the speaker and Nigerian traders separately. Yesterday, he met with Nigerian business executives.

“There are talks about setting up a Nigeria-Ghana Business Council with the hope of domesticating it in both countries.

“NIDO believes more still has to be done. The problem is less of government-to-government but more of people to people.

“We need to look for a way to sensitise citizens of both countries to the need for Ghanaians to understand Nigerians and encourage Nigerians to invest more in their country,” Attoe said.

He expressed the hope that the Gbajabiamila’s visit would lead to the amicable settlement of the issues at stake between the Nigerian Union of Traders Association in Ghana (NUTAG) and the Ghana Union of Traders. (GUTA)

NAN reports that in the course of his visit to Ghanan on Thursday, Gbajabiamila called on the Ghanaian government to review the law requiring businesses to have a capital base of one million dollars before they can start a business, a provision, which Nigerian traders find very stringent and an attempt to discourage them from doing business in Ghana.

“We encourage you to revisit the component of the law that requires a capital base of $1,000,000.

“We are all African. We all have towns and villages and know only too well that the majority of our traders across the continent are petty traders.

“The prospects of them being able to raise a capital base of one million dollars before they can trade in goods that may be worth less than one thousand dollars clearly is a major challenge,” he said.

(NAN)

Gbajabiamila urges Ghana to revisit law on $1m business capital

...seeks bilateral trade law between the two countries

...advocates application of ECOWAS protocols

The Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila has made some far-reaching proposals that would bring an end to the attacks on Nigerian traders doing business in Ghana.

During a 'Legislative Diplomacy' bilateral meeting with Ghanaian lawmakers and some top government officials as part of his ongoing visit to Ghana to resolve the crisis, Gbajabiamila advocated for an amicable settlement of trade disputes through arbitration and fair judicial processes.

The Speaker also said he would be glad to champion a law to improve the bilateral trade relations between Nigeria and Ghana, noting that citizens of the two countries remain brothers and sisters.

He called on Ghanaian authorities to revisit the component of the law that requires a capital base of $1 million for businesses to start, saying as Africans, Ghana should encourage brotherliness.

"First, amicable settlement of trade disputes through arbitration and fair judicial processes. In this context, we do believe that while it is the sovereign right of the government of Ghana to pass and implement the GIPC Act, we would implore you to explore alternative and less aggressive options of engaging, sanctioning and relating with our traders and business people who operate in your country, pay taxes and contribute to the development of both our nations.

"Secondly, we would encourage you to revisit the component of the law that requires a capital base of $1,000,000. We are all Africans, we all have towns and villages, and we know only too well that majority of our traders across the continent are petty traders. The prospect of them being able to raise a capital base of $1,000,000 before they can trade in goods that may be worth less than $1,000, clearly is a major challenge.

"Thirdly, one of the things we are all proud about and the common surname that we all bear is ‘ECOWAS’ and as you know, by virtue of being ECOWAS countries, our nations and our citizens should be able to live, work and thrive in any of our nations without any form of hindrance or discrimination.

"It is in this light we would encourage that we explore how the principles and the application of ECOWAS protocols - which we are both signatories to - may perhaps conflict with the application of the GIPC Act, especially vis-à-vis the recent adoption of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACfTA) by African nations; and also the movement towards a single currency in the West African subregion.

"Fourth, is the importance of strengthening legislative diplomacy and collaboration. Legislative diplomacy is a tool that has been used across the world - both in developing and developed nations - to negotiate, to arbitrate and to find peaceful resolution to disputes between nations. Legislative diplomacy is akin to back-channel diplomacy, which in many cases, makes it more possible for countries to debate and find solutions to problems, without any country losing face publicly.

"In this regard, I do believe that this step both our parliaments have taken to sit, to discuss, deliberate and find solutions; is a sterling example of legislative diplomacy, which the rest of the continent can follow to ensure that while the executive arm of government is performing its duties, that we in the legislature can also leverage our knowledge, our experience, the relationships we have amongst ourselves, to complement efforts in finding collective solutions to our shared problems.

"Fifth, like I said right from the beginning, Nigeria and Ghana are siblings from the same family. I for one, would be willing to champion a law that helps to improve the bilateral trade relations and reciprocal legislation between our two countries and in this regard, we would like to explore the possibility of jointly passing what we could potentially call a Nigeria-Ghana Friendship Act - or something in that line, which will help to cement into law the good relations between our countries and also create a legal framework for further camaraderie that will enable us to ensure that, when it comes to Nigeria and Ghana, our laws will support efforts to improve relations, trade and positive and friendly interactions between our citizens, institutions and our governments.

"We do not have an exact title for such a law as at now, but agreeing on reciprocal legislation that cements the friendship between our nations; and ensures that it continues to thrive and benefit all our citizens - no matter where they live - would go a long way in strengthening our relations on all levels," Gbajabiamila said.

Noting that the relationship between Nigeria and Ghana is one of the most important in Africa, Gbajabiamila said at a time the world is battling the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic impacts and the pressures on public coffers "and service delivery systems are weighing heavily on us all, it is clear that this is not a time for conflict and disagreements, but a time for partnership and solidarity."

He said it is in a bid to improve the bilateral relationships among African countries that he has been championing the creation of the Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliaments ( CoSAP) aimed at identifying, discussing and resolving issues and challenges that affect growth, stability and development within different regions and across the continent.

"While our countries share a constructive and healthy rivalry in several areas - ranging from football to music, food and movie production, amongst others - we know that our healthy rivalry is based more on friendship than enmity and more on healthy competition than destructive confrontation.

"We are friends, we are family, we are one and are determined to remain so, as we continue what our founding fathers started over six decades ago. These reasons, ladies and gentlemen, is why we are here: to deliberate on how we can jointly overcome current challenges and together, build the peaceful and prosperous future we both seek for our countries and our citizens."

He said the challenges that Nigerian traders face in Ghana are a cause for deep concern for all arms of the Nigerian government and the Nigerian people, calling for urgent action to end the hostility.

Gbajabiamila added that: "The escalation of the tensions between our citizens and our nations is nothing for either of our countries to be proud of. And therefore, as I said today at the Nigeria High Commission, it is important that we leaders ensure that our utterances and our actions; and what is reported in our media do not fan the flames of conflict and confrontation, but instead, fuel the possibilities of first de-escalating tensions; finding constructive options for resolution; and working together to effectively implement those solutions, both here in Ghana as well as in Nigeria."

Speaking, the Ghanaian Minister of Trade and Industry Hon. Alan Kyeremateng, said there are many Ghanaians and Nigerians who are going about their lawful duties without difficulties.

“The incidence that has occurred where some shops were locked up must have risen out of situations where there were clear abuses of the application of the laws.

“I was happy that the Nigerian Speaker of the House of Representatives mentioned that if they are doing legitimate business, please allow them as brothers and sisters to continue to do so. I want to give you that assurance that that will be the case. Anybody engaged in business, trading, doing the rightful things, they must have no difficulties.

“Even in cases where we found that in some instances where the laws were not being followed, I, in my capacity as the Minister of Trade, had ordered that they shut the office and those who are being seen as offending the law be given an opportunity to regularize their documentation.

“I say this, being the Minister of Trade and Industry, this is not something that is new, I have always since the time I’ve been a Minister found a way of going along, so that those who needed to regularize their businesses would do so.

“Also as indicated by the Speaker, that it will be a desire to see whether certain aspects of the law could be looked at, I’m sure the Speaker will look at that request and appropriate Committees would be engaged on the subject

“As long as the laws remain on our statute books, I will like to request that, you send a strong signal to our brothers and sisters who are engaged in retail trading that at least for now until further considerations are made on our statute books, they should just respect the law because Ghanaian traders themselves are required to respect the laws of our country. And in that sense, it will be discriminatory for us to require Ghanaians to respect the same laws in our statute books and not require foreigners to do so."

Arising from the meeting, which lasted into the night on Wednesday, a communique would be issued.

Signed:
Lanre Lasisi, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Speaker, House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Gbajabiamila spreads African Speakers’ push for debts cancellation

…Nigeria to host maiden Conference of African Speakers and Heads of Parliament

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila on Monday convened a meeting of some African Speakers of Parliaments where it was agreed that there is an urgent need to push for debt cancellation for the continent from their multilateral and bilateral partners.

This is as Gbajabiamila’s initiative to establish the Conference of African Speakers and Heads of Parliament (CoSAP), a body that will facilitate increased collaboration between Speakers, Heads of Parliament and National Assemblies across Africa got a boost.

The African Speakers will also seek to advance the African development agenda within and outside the continent in conjunction with both the executive arms of government as well as African regional institutions.

These emerged following a virtual meeting conveyed by Gbajabiamila on Monday with Hon. Tagesse Chafo, Speaker, House of Peoples Representatives, Ethiopia; Rt. Hon. Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, PhD, Speaker of Parliament, Ghana; Hon. Justin Bedan Muturi, Speaker, National Assembly, Republic of Kenya; Rt. Hon. Donatille Mukabalisa, Speaker, Chamber of Deputies, Rwanda; and President Moustapha Niasse, AFP, President, National Assembly, Senegal.

In his opening remarks, Gbajabiamila said there was an urgent need to join local and global efforts to push for the cancellation of the external debt owed by various countries on the continent.

Saying that development across the continent has become stunted due to the heavy burden of the debts, Gbajabiamila noted that the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has compounded the issue for the continent, considering the socio-political and economic consequences of the disease.

"We all agree that Africa’s debt burden has become an existential threat to our societies, our economies and the future; we leave to posterity, and we need to do something about this and treat it as a continent-wide priority.

“It is safe to say that the burden of debt servicing, vis-à-vis spending on education and health care for example, is a threat to our continent’s stability and development, especially in the era of Covid-19.

"When we find ourselves having to make policy choices between paying debts or saving lives, we know something is not morally right. And as democratically elected representatives of our people, we cannot be silent. We must speak up and we must act. And the time to act is now.

“Furthermore, is the need for us to reflect on, the processes that led to Africa’s heavy indebtedness in the first place, the role parliamentarians can play to address this going forward and what assurances we as parliamentarians can give our borrowers that if our debt is cancelled, the freed-up resources will be invested in social and economic development of our citizens.

“If we want debt cancellation, we must be able to build the confidence of the borrowers that the cancellation will indeed save lives and livelihoods across the continent, and we, as Speakers and Heads of our parliaments, will ensure that is indeed the case".

On the need for the establishment of the Pan-African Speaker’s Conference, Gbajabiamila noted that collective efforts at tackling challenges facing the continent have become expedient.

He said: “The motive behind this initiative is that each year we identify a theme, issue, or challenge that is pan-African in scope and we meet to deliberate on how we can work together across parliaments in Africa to tackle these continental issues and challenges.

“As heads of our respective parliamentary entities, it will also be a good platform to share experiences and expertise in different aspects of our legislative duties pertinent to the growth, development and sustenance of our economies and our societies; and on ways to enhance the capacity and impact of our parliaments on our democracies and the lives of the peoples we all represent.

“We have spent decades learning from the rest of the world, now we must begin to learn from one another”.

Throwing his weight behind the two initiatives, Hon. Tagesse Chafo, Speaker, House of Peoples Representatives, Ethiopia, noted that though almost every government on the continent has been trying to seek debt forgiveness, this should not, however, stop the parliaments from contributing to the efforts through a platform such as this.

“As representatives of our people, we are to come together, advise and campaign about the issue, we don’t have to keep quiet because debt cancellation would be good for the resuscitation of our economies that have been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.

In the same vein, Rt. Hon. Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament, Ghana noted that the debt burden is essentially a common challenge on the continent, as most African countries have to depend on foreign loans to execute their national budgets.

He, however, noted that the Speaker’s group, in its efforts to push for debt cancellation must be able to convince the creditors about accountability if they hope to succeed.

He said: "Donor agencies are interested in accountability because they are confounded about the issue of corruption, and we must be able to give the assurance and that is why the Speakers Conference is critical. And if nothing is done, there may be no economy to service the loans”

Hon. Justin Bedan Muturi, Speaker, National Assembly, Republic of Kenya also emphasised the need for the initiative, adding that, the coronavirus pandemic has undermined most African economies because conditions attached to most of the loans have been eroded by the consequences of the novel pandemic.

On her part, Rt. Hon. Donatille Mukabalisa, Speaker, Chamber of Deputies, Rwanda, while noting that African countries depend on and heavily burdened by loans even before the pandemic, however, added that the group must be clear about the kind of debt it is seeking to address and from which partners.

While President Moustapha Niasse, AFP, President, National Assembly, Senegal also regretted that the pandemic has affected all economies on the continent negatively, he, however, suggested that opinions of members of the forum must be sought on how to solve the issues between suspension or cancellation of debt
“We must be convinced that we have a job to do at the level of parliament,” he added.

It was also agreed that a Communique would be released in the first week of September 2020, while the campaign for implementations of the plan of action would begin in the second week of September 2020 as well.

According to the forum, the third week of September would be devoted to the planning for the 2021 conference by the Secretariat.

While it was decided that Nigeria would host the maiden edition of CoSAP chaired by Nigerian Speaker the Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, the new body is expected to meet again in the first week of September to approve the plans and swing into action.