Ghana and Nigeria to establish chamber of commerce.

The governments of Ghana and Nigeria have given their backing to the creation of a joint chamber of commerce to improve trade and investment between the two countries. The chamber will be established at the end of the forthcoming Ghana and Nigeria Business Summit 2008, which will be held in Accra from 6-8 October. Organised by a private company, Vintage Vision, the summit aims to encourage and develop a conducive business environment for businesses operating in both Ghana and Nigeria, as well as improving bilateral trade relations between the two countries.

Nigerian businessmen and women have injected around $600 million into Ghana over the last seven years. By comparison Ghanaian investment in Nigeria over the same period has been very low largely as a result of mistrust in Ghana concerning Nigerian business practices, which are widely perceived to be corrupt. Overcoming problems due to differences in business cultures will be one of the challenges facing the new chamber of commerce.