The United Kingdom and Ghana have moved closer to reaching a post-Brexit agreement, although, it will not meet the UK’s Brexit deadline.
Ghana had hoped the deal will be struck in good time to prevent it from the new default charges that will come with transacting with the UK as a non-EU member.
The deal is to help Ghana trade under same rules as the UK enjoyed while it was a member of the EU. The United Kingdom is expected to complete its exit from the EU on the 1st of January 2021.
Protecting its trade, the UK has signed continuity agreements with 63 countries with hopes of protecting £855bn of trade. It has already struck agreements with Canada, Switzerland and many others.
The UK has however not been able to reach an agreement with Ghana over trade continuity, with the British government expected to submit new legislations implementing its continuity of trade with countries later on Thursday.
Ghana’s imports from the UK will still be subjected to the tariffs of the World Trade Organisation until a deal is struck.
One of the UK’s biggest partners in Africa, Ghana is expected to reach a deal soon, with the period of implementation still unknown.
In 2019 alone, Britain exported goods worth over £700m to Ghana while the cocoa-rich West African country exported goods in the region of £500m to the UK with majority being oil, fruits, cocoa, and fish.
Ghana is leading a West African drive to import food commodities and other needed items to the United Kingdom. This however is being made difficult by heavy tariffs by the UK government, as a non-EU member.
Experts believe the UK’s trade agreements with Africa can be set under new terms to ease the exportation of goods from the continent, with local producers, especially farmers getting protection.
The UK in past months had played hardball in getting a deal over the line. Ghana and other West African countries sought a roll-over of trade agreements like the ones that existed while Britain was still in the EU.