ANKARA

Ghana's former President John Mahama on Tuesday appealed to the Nigerian government to open its land borders closed since August in order to allow resuming economic activities in West Africa, local media reported.

“With the signing of the joint border task force agreement between Nigeria and her neighbors, I will like to take this opportunity to appeal to Nigeria to open up her border so that economic activities can resume,” Mahama was quoted as saying by the Nigerian News Agency at an event in Nigeria’s Lagos.

The closure was having a significant impact on several small and medium businesses, Mahama added.

The Nigerian authorities on Aug. 22, suddenly closed the the busy Seme and Idiroko borders with Benin.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said the border was closed to stop smuggled rice from entering the country.

This has raised the price of local rice available in the country.