The Ghana Shippers’ Authority has signalled a tougher stance against long-standing transit trade bottlenecks, pledging decisive action to cut costs and improve efficiency along Ghana’s key trade corridors.

Speaking at the signing of an MoU with the Mali Shippers’ Council in Bamako, CEO Prof. Ransford Gyampo said the partnership “marks not only the continuation of a relationship but also the deepening of a strategic partnership… to promote efficient, competitive, and mutually beneficial shipping and logistics services.”

He noted that despite Ghana’s commitment to transit trade, “tariff and non-tariff barriers continue to impede transit trade, negatively affecting the haulage of transit cargo along the corridor.”

He listed persistent challenges, including “high demurrage charges, the nontransparent handling of transit cargoes… numerous checkpoints and related extortions, axle load problems, and security issues,” warning that “these add to the cost of doing business and reduce the competitiveness of our commercial operators.”

Prof. Gyampo stressed that the Authority has already taken steps to address these issues through “direct interventions to address and resolve transit shipper complaints,” including the use of Transit Shipper Committees, now designated as the National Transit Coordinator, and regular engagements with stakeholders.

He pointed to new legal backing under the Ghana Shippers’ Authority Act, 2024 (Act 1122), saying the law has “empowered the Authority to play a stronger role in facilitating transit trade along our corridors.”

“I am confident that this new mandate will not only strengthen the Authority’s capacity… but also enable us to deal more decisively with the challenges that have long impeded the smooth functioning of the transit trade regime in Ghana,” he said.

The CEO also highlighted infrastructure plans to ease congestion and lower costs. The Boankra Integrated Logistics Terminal, he said, “is meant to handle both imports and exports… to and from the northern half of Ghana and the neighbouring Sahelian countries.”

He added that it “is expected to save 14% of the total transportation cost for cargo handled at Tema Port and 48% for those handled at Takoradi Port.”

He urged operators to “make Ghana the preferred transit corridor” and invited investors “to invest in the BILT… to further enhance the competitiveness of our shippers.”

Prof. Gyampo concluded with a firm assurance, reiterating “the Authority’s commitment to reducing business costs at Ghana’s ports and facilitating transit trade along our corridor.”