Trade Minister Warns Against Calls to Restrict Foreign Role in Retail

The Minister for Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has cautioned against demands to curtail foreign involvement in Ghana’s retail sector, stressing that enforcement remains challenging so long as local actors continue to serve as fronts for foreign traders.

Her remarks come amid heightened public debate over the application of laws that limit foreign participation in the country’s retail trade.

Addressing the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, the Trade Minister rejected claims that foreigners dominate Ghana’s retail market, arguing that such assertions are not borne out by the facts.

“I can say for sure, without any scientific basis, that foreigners are not responsible for 70% of our retail market. I don’t need rocket science; I only need to go to the market to see how many shops are being manned by foreigners,” she said.

While conceding that some foreigners may be engaged in retail activity, Madam Ofosu-Adjare pointed out that many operate through Ghanaian intermediaries, complicating regulatory enforcement.

“I would not deny the fact that there may be a few foreigners in the retail trade. But even those people in the retail space are being fronted by local people. If you enter the shop, you will see a Ghanaian sitting there,” she explained.

She further noted that ownership structures often obscure the true beneficiaries of businesses, even in official records.

“What do you have to say that you are closing that shop because it doesn’t belong to a Ghanaian, whereas it is being manned by a Ghanaian? Even if you proceed to the Registrar-General’s Authority, the name of that shop is Ghanaian,” the minister stated.

Madam Ofosu-Adjare emphasized that effective enforcement would require a shift in behaviour among local business owners who facilitate foreign participation in restricted sectors.

“What I can say is that if Ghanaians don’t want foreigners in the space, we can fish them out and sack them. But so long as we front for them and register for them, there is nothing anybody can do,” she added.