Ghana will host the signing of the United Nations Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents, known as the Accra Convention, on October 26, 2026, to modernise trade documentation and improve the efficiency of international commerce.

The Director of the Foreign Trade and Negotiations Directorate at the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Stella A. Ansah, announced this on behalf of the sector Minister, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, during a media engagement organised by the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) in Accra on Thursday, October 15, 2026.

The engagement aimed to sensitise the media to the Convention's significance and Ghana’s role in hosting the international signing ceremony.

Madam Ansah said the Convention would establish a legal framework for negotiable cargo documents in both paper and electronic formats for goods transported by road, rail, air and sea.

The framework is expected to support the modernisation of trade documentation and facilitate the use of negotiable cargo documents across different modes of transport.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority, Professor Ransford Edward Gyampo, also highlighted the importance of modernising trade documentation in response to growing digitalisation and increasingly complex global supply chains.

The signing ceremony is expected to bring together representatives of governments, international organisations and the global trading community in Accra.

The event is expected to position Ghana at the centre of international efforts to strengthen the legal framework for modern cargo documentation and facilitate global trade.