Africa-Press – Liberia. Amidst complaints of economic hardship facing the entire globe, including Liberia, more foreign business owners are said to be storming Ganta in pursuit of the marketplace.
Most of the newcomers are Lebanese, Indian, and other nationals from Asian countries, while others are Nigerian, Guinean, and those from North Africa.
In an interview conducted with some foreign business owners in Ganta, they expressed happiness in extending their businesses to Ganta, but complained that ‘people are not buying’.
“I am very happy to extend my business in this city, but people are not buying so it is becoming bad for us,” said one Atlee.
In recent times, businesses are said to be growing everywhere in Ganta, where on every street corner there is a new business center or establishment, but the complaint of people not buying could heard from every business owner.
“We are paying taxes regularly, but we are not getting the required customers, nearly everybody is complaining about hardship,” said a Fulani businessman who specializes in the sale of mobile phones.
Ganta is ideally situated. The city is bordering with Guinea, and it remains one of the key business hubs, connecting to nearly every city and town within Nimba and beyond.
Some of the new comers are wholesalers, easing the movement of retailers to Monrovia to get their goods.
“We are doing wholesale here and also hoping to bring in more goods, once we get the customers,” the manager of Manigbah and Son Inc, a wholesaler.
Besides the Manigbah and Son Inc., Jungle Water Group of Investment owned by Businessman Flyold Tomah been the only wholesaler in Ganta.
There are several other businesses currently floating in Ganta, some involved in car tires, clothing, drinks, and others, but complaints of ‘no buyers’ remain a concern among the traders.
The new Ganta City Mayor Samuel Headt had been involved in cleaning the city to give it a facelift–another mean of encouraging more traders to invest in Ganta.
“We are talking with our business people to help us and we are also encouraging others to come in, so it is better to make the city clean so as to attract investors,” he said.
“Since this year, we have not received customers to reach 10 persons in our Guest House,” a guest house owner, who does not want to be named told this reporter in Ganta.
“We are hoping to see what this government will do to ease this stalemate in this country,” she said.
Despite the economic hardship, prices of local commodities continue to rise daily, due to the hike in transportation fares, triggered by an increase in the prices of petroleum products.
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