The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Simon Madjie, has called for restraint among Ghanaian traders amid escalating tensions with foreign retailers, emphasizing public education on trade laws over confrontational actions.
Speaking on TV3’s Business Focus programme on Monday, September 8, 2025, Madjie stressed the need for collaboration between the media, Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), GIPC, the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and agribusiness stakeholders to clarify reserved commerce sectors.
“The issue is not about enforcement of our laws but about understanding what is happening in the market,” Madjie explained, warning against violence. “We should urge calm. This is not the time to lose control of ourselves and attack people in the market.”
His remarks follow the Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association’s closure of over 150 foreign-owned shops on September 8 to enforce Section 27(1) of the GIPC Act, 2013 (Act 865), which prohibits non-citizens from petty trading, hawking, or market stall operations.
The action, announced by the Association’s Director of Communications, Takyi Addo, aims to protect local livelihoods from what it calls “unlawful competition” in Abossey Okai, West Africa’s largest automotive spare parts hub.
GUTA, while denying direct involvement in the closures, echoed frustrations over government inaction. In an interview on Onua FM’s Yen Nsempa, GUTA’s National 1st Vice Chairman, Clement Boateng, criticized successive administrations for failing to enforce trade regulations, allowing foreigners to dominate retail spaces and outbid locals on rents.
“It will get to a point where local traders will take the law into their own hands and start closing the shops of foreigners operating in Ghana,” Boateng cautioned. “As citizens, we also have the right to enforce the laws as long as they exist. But we do not want to do that because it creates chaos.”
He highlighted rising shop costs, where landlords favor foreigners paying higher rents, and lamented police inaction on reported violations.
“If the government had imprisoned one or two landlords, it would have deterred others,” he added.
Madjie assured that the President, Trade Ministry, and agencies are addressing the disputes, which also involve ECOWAS protocols on trade liberalization. GUTA has called for urgent enforcement to curb “unfair competition.” The closures have sparked debates on balancing local protectionism with regional obligations, with similar past actions in 2019 and 2020 shutting over 600 foreign shops in Accra and Kumasi.
Madjie’s proactive engagement, including a recent tour of Kwame Nkrumah Circle with GUTA, has been praised for reassuring traders that retail remains protected, focusing reforms on sectors like manufacturing and IT.
As enforcement continues, stakeholders urge dialogue to prevent chaos while upholding the GIPC Act’s intent to safeguard indigenous businesses amid Ghana’s economic challenges, including a weakening cedi.
