The Ghana Community Networks Services Limited, a Ghanaian Public-Private Partnership (PPP), has been adjudged the Best Public-Private Partnership Company in West Africa. The award was conferred on the company at the 4th PPP MedAfrique Awards in Paris, France. GCNet was rewarded for its unique achievements in modernising and simplifying customs clearing at Ghana's ports. The PPP MedAfrique Awards is an annual event organised by Edifice Capital, a Paris-based structuring and infrastructure funds manager in Europe, Mediterranean Basin and Africa. The French Secretary of State in charge of Commerce, Arts, Small Medium Enterprises, Tourism and Services, Mr Herve Novelli presented the award which was received on behalf of GCNet by Mrs Ama Amoah, External Relations Co-ordinator of the service. GCNet is an interface of the Ghana Trade Network (TradeNet) and the Ghana Customs Management System, which works with various applications to ensure the smooth clearance of consignments in real time. Since its inception in 2003, the management and staff of GCNet have consequently designed new tools and online applications to suit specific ends of the trade facilitation process. This accounts for the system's drastic contributions to reduce the time of clearing goods at the country's ports such as the Kotoka International Airport, where the system GCNet system had led to the reduction of clearance time from three days to a day for 81 per cent of consignments and the Tema Port, where the service has been responsible for reducing clearing time from three weeks to three days. GCNet has come through as a perfect example of PPP and has been the talk and the reference point for customs reforms across sub-Saharan Africa. It has in the past been duly recognised by veritable institutions such as the World Bank. The management and staff of GCNet expressed appreciation for the honour and assured stakeholders that the company would continue to innovate and introduce tailor-made applications that had already made the system a single window for the submission, processing and exchange of trade and customs related data. Present at the ceremony were representations from the Ghana Embassy in France, the World Bank and other international organisations. Source: GNA