Ghana hosts 4-nation business summit

3/10/09

Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
FIVE hundred business executives and entrepreneurs from Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria are to attend a three-day business summit in Accra aimed at bridging trade barriers among the four neighbouring countries.
The Ghana-Togo-Benin-Nigeria Business Summit takes place from October 5 to 7, 2009 on the theme, "Breaking Barriers and Partnering to Optimise Trade Potentials”.
The summit is a continuation of annual gatherings of public and private sector stakeholders in Ghana and Nigeria in the last two years and the inclusion of Togo and Benin is to bring on board all the four countries in the Co-Prosperity Alliance Zone.
It is being organised by Vintage Visions Limited, in partnership with the Ghanaian Embassy in Nigeria, the Togolese Embassy in Ghana, the Beninois Embassy in Ghana and the Nigerian Embassy in Ghana.
Briefing newsmen on the forthcoming summit, the Chief Executive Officer of Vintage Visions Limited, Mr Michael Ajayi, said although the four countries were along the coastal areas and shared borders, they did not have any bilateral trade agreements.
Besides, he said, all the four countries had common trade obstacles hindering trade relations among them and mentioned restrictions at the borders as an example.
Therefore, he said, the business summit was an attempt to forge trade alliances among public and private sector stakeholders in the four neighbouring countries.
Mr Ajayi said the countries would be discussing business opportunities in sectors, including oil and gas, manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, construction and transportation.
He said the business summit was an attempt to open market avenues among the four West African countries and encourage local production, adding that it was expected to create a conducive business environment for medium, small and large enterprises to thrive in their businesses.
That, he said, would “reverse the over-dependence of West African countries on foreign markets”.
Mr Ajayi said the summit would come up with an action plan and a communiqué to influence policy development geared towards improving bilateral relations.
It would also form a pressure group to impress on respective governments to ease restrictions at the borders to facilitate business transactions, he said.
The Togolese Ambassador to Ghana and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Ghana, Mr Tete Jean-Pierre Gbikpi-Benissan, said the summit was significant, since it would improve trade relations among the four neighbouring countries.
He stressed that it would break the trade barriers among the countries and grow their respective economies.
The Deputy Head of Mission of the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana, Mr A.M. Salisu, said the summit had recorded successes since it began in 2006 and expressed the hope that this year’s summit, which sees the inclusion of Togo and Benin, would yield more results.