My father always told me that doing business in
Ghana is now very hard, unlike how it was years
before. This comment I never really understood till
today. The assumption that a young man learns
more from his peers proved true in this case, as I
finally got to have an insight through this childhood
friend of mine who has just spent fourteen months
(a year and two months) in Ghana. Below are his
real life experiences of life as an upcoming business
man in Ghana (figures are converted to naira
instead of cefa/cedis for easier comprehension).
"Whomever tells you that becoming self-made in
Ghana now is easy is either an old-timer or a
pretender. Living in Ghana is never easy, especially
on us Nigerians. My house rent alone costs me
N84,000 per year, aside from the contributions of
my housemates. It is true that electricity is always
on, but we pay dearly for it. In a three-bedroom flat
occupied by four of us, we utilize about N360,000
yearly on electricity. Even my feeding alone costs
an average of N220,000 (more than) yearly at a
rate of N600 daily or more. My spendings on airtime
for transactions and data costs about N200 daily,
making more than N72,000 yearly."
"This won't have been much of a load but for the
inconsiderate actions of our Ghanian business
partners, in my opinion, which are to oppress we
Nigerians. They hold meetings to send one of their
agents to journey down to Lagos (in Nigeria) to find
out the cost prices of goods, and thus, fix their price
based on cost price, completely ignoring the
transportation and clearance expenditures. This has
forced the Nigerian old timers (or shop owners) in
Ghana to sell at same price as suppliers (new
comers) in Ghana, making it difficult for new
comers to survive in the business climate. As a
result, most new comers are looking for passage
into alternative countries to escape this
monopolized economy. Any money I make there, is
going back to the country's purse in the name of
house rent, taxes, electricity and feeding. I can't
even send back money for a bag of cement to start
a building at home, not even considering other
comforts of life.
I used to make N12,000 weekly (after expenses)
here at Owerri (in Imo State, Nigeria), which
enabled me to save enough money to seek the
green pastures I thought existed in Ghana. If I see
any link to my former means of livelihood here, I'm
never returning to Ghana. For now, my going back
there is only because of my debtors, who owe me
much more than half my earnings in my entire stay
there. As for remaining there to become someone,
it's not likely to happen," he concluded.
Ghana is now very hard, unlike how it was years
before. This comment I never really understood till
today. The assumption that a young man learns
more from his peers proved true in this case, as I
finally got to have an insight through this childhood
friend of mine who has just spent fourteen months
(a year and two months) in Ghana. Below are his
real life experiences of life as an upcoming business
man in Ghana (figures are converted to naira
instead of cefa/cedis for easier comprehension).
"Whomever tells you that becoming self-made in
Ghana now is easy is either an old-timer or a
pretender. Living in Ghana is never easy, especially
on us Nigerians. My house rent alone costs me
N84,000 per year, aside from the contributions of
my housemates. It is true that electricity is always
on, but we pay dearly for it. In a three-bedroom flat
occupied by four of us, we utilize about N360,000
yearly on electricity. Even my feeding alone costs
an average of N220,000 (more than) yearly at a
rate of N600 daily or more. My spendings on airtime
for transactions and data costs about N200 daily,
making more than N72,000 yearly."
"This won't have been much of a load but for the
inconsiderate actions of our Ghanian business
partners, in my opinion, which are to oppress we
Nigerians. They hold meetings to send one of their
agents to journey down to Lagos (in Nigeria) to find
out the cost prices of goods, and thus, fix their price
based on cost price, completely ignoring the
transportation and clearance expenditures. This has
forced the Nigerian old timers (or shop owners) in
Ghana to sell at same price as suppliers (new
comers) in Ghana, making it difficult for new
comers to survive in the business climate. As a
result, most new comers are looking for passage
into alternative countries to escape this
monopolized economy. Any money I make there, is
going back to the country's purse in the name of
house rent, taxes, electricity and feeding. I can't
even send back money for a bag of cement to start
a building at home, not even considering other
comforts of life.
I used to make N12,000 weekly (after expenses)
here at Owerri (in Imo State, Nigeria), which
enabled me to save enough money to seek the
green pastures I thought existed in Ghana. If I see
any link to my former means of livelihood here, I'm
never returning to Ghana. For now, my going back
there is only because of my debtors, who owe me
much more than half my earnings in my entire stay
there. As for remaining there to become someone,
it's not likely to happen," he concluded.
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