On August 9, 2023, stranded traders at the Benin border called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to intervene on their behalf to prompt the release of 70 trucks carrying onions from Niger to Ghana through the Benin border.
In an interview with Citi FM, the spokesperson for the onion sellers indicated that since most of the onions have gone bad, they are relying on those from Nigeria which does not last longer compared to the ones from Niger.
The spokesperson for the onion sellers in Ghana, Yakubu Apendiba, disclosed that 55 of the stranded onion trucks in Benin Republic have made it home following intervention by the Ghanaian ambassador to Benin.
According to him, the onion being transported in some 44 trucks went bad because the trucks could not arrive in Ghana on time due to the closure of the border in Niger.
“The Ghana ambassador to Benin went there and spoke to the patrol, and they opened it for just two hours and closed it again and this is affecting our business because the onions are rotten.
“About 55 cars have come home within the last three days all being forty-footer trucks and all went bad, and so we are now doing the local ones and getting it from Nigeria, but that one doesn’t last it gets spoilt easily” he said.
He further noted that the price of onion has reduced slightly because they are been procured from Nigeria.
“As we started going to Nigeria to bring the Nigeria one, the price has gone down a little bit. We were selling a bag last week for between GH¢1,600 and GH¢1,500, but now we are selling a bag between GH¢1,300 and GH¢1,200 he stated
“Sourcing from Niger is expensive compared to the one that we buy from Nigeria because if you go to buy in Niger, you will not get any place to pass and come to Ghana. All our cars in Niger have all come back to Ghana and nobody is there” he noted.
