GHANA-NIGERIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE TASKED TO CREATE MORE JOBS WITHIN THE WEST AFRICAN SUB-REGION

The Ghana-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) is expected to stimulate economic growth and create jobs and the required social safety nets in the two West African sub-region by PresidentJohn Agyekum Kufour of Ghan He said it will help stem the tide of migration of the abled-bodied youth of Ghana and Nigeria to developed countries to seek greener pasture."When fairly done, and under-pinned by right measures and policies, trade such as envisaged under the projected Chamaber of Commerce would not be a zero sum game in which one country takes undue advantage of the other. It should be a win-win situation in which each country's interests would be best served. President Kufour said at the opening ceremony of the first Ghana-Nigeria Business Summit (GNBS) held in Accra. At the close of the summit, the GNCCI will be launched and a bilateral trade aggrement is expected to be signed between Ghana and Nigeria. The GNBS is organised by Vintage Visions Limited in collaboration with the Nigeria High Commission in Ghana, the Ghanaian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Private Sector Development and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre. The theme of the summit was"Promoting Trade and Investment." The president said it is expected that the chamber of commerce would be the catalyst in facilitating wealth creation and prosperity not in the two countries, but also in the entire sub-region. go He urged captains of industry in the two countries to have a long-term vision of transforming the economy from primary products to industrialised. "Another compelling reason for supporting this venture is that will enable our two countries to fully utilise each other's competitive advantage in its area of specialisation. President Kufour said the summit in many ways forms an essential part of the process towards the realisation of the dreams of the founding fathers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) "who envisioned the free movement of people, goods and services. He said it is therefore paradoxical that for all these years, there has not been any formal trade agreemnt between the two countries, thus leaving business to be transacted largely through informal and un-co-ordinated initiatives. He said intra-regional trade is one of the surest ways of confronting the challenges of the global economy. ECOWAS would thus be strengthened to serve as a veritable building block towards the AU's vision of a continental Union Government. He added that it was important that cross border security would be given due attention in business operations. "You need to adhere strictly to the ECOWAS ban on the trade in small arms and illicit drugs enable business flourish in the sub-region"

michael Amedor