A renewed trade dispute has emerged between Nigeria and Ghana after five trucks carrying Nigerian onions remained unable to offload their cargo at the Adjen Kotoku Market in Accra, raising fresh concerns about regional agricultural trade and cross-border commerce within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The West and Central African Onion Observatory (ORO/WCA) said the trucks had been prevented from discharging their cargo since July 21. In a statement issued on July 23, the regional body called on the governments of Nigeria and Ghana to intervene urgently, warning that prolonged delays could disrupt agricultural trade and undermine confidence in regional commerce.
ORO/WCA President Isa Aliyu, who also serves as President of the National Onion Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NOPPMAN), said diplomatic efforts involving Nigerian and Ghanaian authorities, the ECOWAS Trade Directorate and other stakeholders had yet to resolve the impasse. He announced a deadline of 2:00 p.m. local time on July 24 for the release of the trucks, saying Nigerian onion stakeholders would meet to consider further action if the vehicles were not allowed to offload. At the time of publication, there was no official confirmation that the trucks had been released.
The latest incident comes about three months after a similar dispute temporarily disrupted onion exports between the two countries.
In early April, NOPPMAN suspended onion exports to Ghana after around 15 Nigerian trucks were prevented from offloading at the same market in Accra. The association accused some Ghanaian market operators of harassing Nigerian traders and imposing restrictions that it said violated the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme, which provides for the free movement of qualifying goods within the region.
The dispute briefly escalated following reports that additional onion trucks had been seized. NOPPMAN later clarified that the affected vehicles had been parked because of a labour-related disruption and had not been confiscated.
Following diplomatic engagement involving officials from both countries, the affected trucks were released and onion exports resumed within days.
The renewed impasse has revived concerns over the reliability of regional agricultural trade corridors. Analysts say repeated disruptions could increase transport and logistics costs, tighten onion supplies in key markets and contribute to higher retail prices across parts of West Africa.
According to NOPPMAN, Nigeria exported about 220,000 metric tonnes of onions to West African markets last year, with roughly 100,000 metric tonnes destined for Ghana, underscoring the importance of the trade relationship.
As of publication, neither Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor Ghana’s Ministry responsible for Trade had issued an official statement on the latest dispute.
