The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has secured a deal with the United Kingdom (UK) High Commission’s Department of International Trade to facilitate easy access of goods and services in the UK to its members.
This move is to help mitigate the effect of the Coronavirus outbreak in China on the businesses of members of GUTA.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Greater Accra Regional Secretary of the Union, Nana Opoku, on Wednesday, February 12, 2020.
“We the traders in Ghana have gotten our share of the of the effect of the outbreak as it has resulted in a shortage of goods since our traders cannot go to China for goods now”, it said.
Therefore, the statement further read, “we are by this, informing our members to contact the office the Greater Accra GUTA to help them with the necessary documentation to help them travel to the United Kingdom to purchase goods”.
Not surprising
However, this action does not come as a surprise, as the GUTA President, Dr Joseph Obeng, had, in an earlier interview with the Ghana Talks Business stated that his outfit may look elsewhere for the supply of goods should the outbreak of the disease prolong.
“Business is dynamic and so if China is dead, we have other destinations. We are not wishing that on them though, but we may have to move on if this thing continues”, he said.
Coronavirus
The novel Coronavirus is proving to be a very deadly disease that is hitting businesses very hard.
It has resulted in the suspension of production and lockdown of many ports in mainland China.
So far, 1,100 people have lost their lives to the disease with about 40, 000 people confirmed to have been infected with the virus. This is according to the World Health Organisation.
