Appiah Kusi Adomako, West Africa Regional Director of CUTS International, has slammed Ghanaian businesses for refusing to adjust prices in favour of consumers despite the recent appreciation of the cedi against the dollar.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, May 17, 2025, Adomako accused businesses of taking undue advantage of weak consumer protection structures to profiteer at the expense of ordinary Ghanaians.
“Whenever there is a depreciation of the cedi, the businesses are using expected projection of the cedi to the dollar to price. However, when the cedi is appreciating against the dollar and consumers have to benefit, then they try on other things against the consumers,” he said.
His comments come amid public calls for businesses to reflect the cedi’s gains in commodity pricing.
However, the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA) and the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) have requested a 60-day window to adjust prices downward.
At a meeting with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Agribusiness on Wednesday, May 14, the two business groups said the grace period was necessary to ensure the cedi’s stability is sustained and to allow time for the clearance of old stock purchased at higher exchange rates.
But Adomako argued that even short-term gains in the strength of the local currency should be reflected in the pricing of goods and services, noting that consumers deserve to benefit just as quickly as they suffer during times of depreciation.
“Even if the cedi appreciates for one week or so, let the consumers also feel the benefit of the appreciation of the cedi,” he said.
He further lamented the lack of robust regulatory safeguards to protect consumers from such practices, pointing to the absence of a consumer protection law and a competition law in Ghana.
“Of course we do not have a consumer protection law, we do not have a competition law in the country so it has become more like—whatever the businesses will do, let them do that and then cheat on the consumers. I think it’s not fair,” he stressed.
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