A survey conducted by Pan-African and nonpartisan survey research network, Afrobarometer, has revealed that majority of Ghanaians (51 percent) want the country’s retail space limited to Ghanaian nationals only.
The need to limit retail trade to Ghanaians only, as noted by the survey, is to protect nationals from unfair competition from foreign nationals in the form of cheaper prices of goods offered by foreigners.
Contrary to Ghana’s stance is that of Malawi and Mali whose citizens (74 percent and 71 percent respectively) are of the view that, foreigners should be allowed to actively participate in the local retail space so as to “ensure a wide choice of low-cost consumer goods.”
Generally, the survey conducted in 18 African countries found out that majority (58 percent) of Africans prefer that their government continue to permit foreigners to set up shops in the country.
“Across 18 countries, a majority (58%) prefer that their government continue to permit foreigners to set up shops in the country to ensure a wide choice of low-cost consumer goods (Figure 2). Gabon and Ghana are the only countries where more than half of respondents endorse limiting retail trade to their own citizens (53% and 51%, respectively). At the other end of the spectrum, more than seven in 10 respondents favour allowing foreign traders in Malawi (74%), Cabo Verde (71%), Sierra Leone (71%), and Mali (71%),” reads part of the report on the survey.
The survey by Afrobarometer focused on the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement and the attendant issues on open borders, free movement of people across borders, self reliance for development, influence of regional organizations on the implementation of AfCFTA among others.
In Ghana’s retail trade space, Ghanaian nationals and foreigners particularly Nigerians have consistently engaged in a standoff over the illegality of Nigerians operating in the space as well as accusing Nigerians of unfair competition.
A recent standoff between both Ghanaian traders and their Nigerian counterparts escalated eventually resulting in a diplomatic row between the two countries with the Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, leading a high-powered delegation to Ghana to discuss the fast escalating trade issue.
Speaking at the VoicesAfrica Webinar organized by Afrobarometer on Friday, April 9, Afrobarometer’s Amanda Bisong in discussing the findings of the survey, posited that there is growing anti-migrant sentiments against non-nationals in African countries.
Asserting that, if the AfCFTA is to be successfully implemented, such anti-migrant sentiments ought to be looked at, as Africans from other countries have to be able to freely move across borders as well as freely engage in trade in other countries.
Speaking also at the webinar was Jayenisha Patel also of Afrobarometer who opined that, restrictions of free movement and negative attitude and perceptions towards trade and open borders by Africans as identified by the survey, if not addressed, will impede the successful implementation of the AfCFTA.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which kicked-off on January 1, 2021, is the world’s largest free-trade zone. With a combined gross domestic product of about $2.2 trillion, the AfCFTA is projected to generate increased cross-border trade and investment volumes, technology transfers, and income levels, lifting 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty by 2035.
Despite the enormous benefits to be derived from the trade agreement, the AfCFTA, Afrobarometer asserts, faces a multitude of hurdles to effective implementation, from weaknesses in trade infrastructure, human capital, and information and communications technology to unresolved strategic and regulatory considerations, including the absence of a shared trading currency.
