President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association, GUTA Dr. Joseph Obeng, has lamented the influx of Chinese-rated businesses into the economy, calling for the amendment of the country’s economic laws.
Dr. Obeng said local businesses have lost approximately 40 percent of the market share to the Chinese, saying that local businesses only import 30 percent.
At the same time, foreign companies take a huge chunk of 80 per cent of the imports.
Dr. Obeng attributed the deprecation of the cedi to these foreign business owners with huge capital to import large containers of goods compared to their Ghanaian counterparts.
He further said the depreciation of the cedi is affecting their business, adding that, for businesses to survive, the challenges posed by the free fall of the cedi, and to break even businesses have had to pass on the cost to the consumer.
“If you go to Abossey Okai, most of the shops have been closed and then, they go to Opera Square, they go to so many other places.
Our major problem is with the Chinese, and we are going to go on them seriously, because, let me tell you the Chinatown and China Mall, these and Chinese companies here so taking a chunk of our business over 40 percent.
It’s psychological, we go to China to buy the goods, so once they are here to set up their supermarket and all that, they think we are also going to China to buy goods for consumers.
They are taking advantage of not serving you with the quality, and even the price is something else. They even trade on Sundays, they’ve taken it all.
That is why we also tell the government that the depreciation of the cedi can be attributed to this group of people, “
He reveals that retailers are no longer getting supplies on credit due to the challenges posed by the free fall of the cedi.
” The reality on the ground is that the cedis are depreciating, and our capital has been depleted by 20 percent. In the last quarter of 2022, we had similar situations. It depleted our capital by 50 percent, then we came to 2023, where we had some stability, thinking businesses were about to recoup their losses, and then this thing has also happened, so it is not a good thing for us. It is making businesses shrink because we are unable to bring the same volumes that we used to bring because depreciation of the cedi means, loss of capital, ” Dr. Obeng added.
