The Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Ms. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has rejected claims that foreigners control a significant share of Ghana’s retail sector, describing such assertions as exaggerated and misleading.
She said the perception of foreign dominance largely stems from the practice of “fronting,” where Ghanaian citizens register businesses in their own names but allow foreign nationals to operate them behind the scenes.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Tuesday, the Minister said the widely circulated claim that foreigners control about 70 percent of Ghana’s retail market was not supported by evidence or her personal observations from visits to markets across the country.
“I can say for sure, without any scientific basis, that foreigners are not responsible for 70 percent of our retail markets. I don’t need rocket science. I just need to go to the market and scan around,” she said.
Under Section 27 of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act, 2013 (Act 865), certain sectors such as petty trading, market operations and small-scale taxi services are reserved exclusively for Ghanaians to protect local livelihoods and promote indigenous entrepreneurship. Any direct foreign participation in these areas constitutes a breach of the law.
Ms. Ofosu-Adjare, however, argued that the main challenge was not a direct influx of foreign retailers, but the complicity of some Ghanaians who act as fronts for foreign operators.
“Even those people in the retail trade who are foreigners are being fronted by Ghanaians. If you enter the shop right now, you see a Ghanaian sitting there. What case do you have to close that shop when it is registered in a Ghanaian’s name and being manned by a Ghanaian?” she asked.
She explained that this practice makes enforcement extremely difficult, as authorities cannot legally sanction businesses that are properly registered under Ghanaian ownership, even when the actual beneficiaries are foreigners.
“The name of the game is evidence,” the Minister said. “You go to the Registrar-General and pull a document that shows the business belongs to a Ghanaian. As long as we keep fronting for them and registering for them, there is nothing anybody can do, because you’ll be sued.”
The Minister therefore urged Ghanaians to stop enabling foreign participation in sectors reserved for citizens, noting that enforcement would be more effective if foreign operators were forced to act openly.
“Don’t front for them. Let them come with their red face into the retail market, and we’ll do the needful,” she said.
