The headquarters of the Burkina Shippers Council, also known as the CBC in Ghana, has been inaugurated at Tema to serve as the administrative centre for Council activities in Ghana.
The 3-storey ultra-modern office complex situated within the Tema Port enclave is expected to boost trade and transport facilitation related to the transit business between Ghana and Burkina Faso.
The commissioning ceremony brought together government officials and shipping sector stakeholders from both countries.
Speaking at the ceremony, Ghana Rep for the Burkina Faso Shippers Council, Denise Bado, thanked all actors responsible for the project’s completion.
The Director of Port Tema, Sandra Opoku, assured that the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority will continuously enhance all measures to sustain and prosper the transit trade.
She said: “We began with the provision of land to the transit representatives for building offices and warehouses to support their administrative and operational activities. In our bid to reduce the cost of doing business in our ports, especially for our transit customers, rebates are granted on our cargo volumes and 21 days rent-free for all transit cargo. We have also automated our ports’ processes to reduce delays”.
The Board Chairman of the Burkina Shippers Council, Al Hassane Sienou, said constructing the building is part of a vast infrastructural programme embarked on by the CBC’s governing body through its strategic development plan of 2014-2018.
Deputy Transport Minister, Frederick Obeng Adom, called for strengthened collaboration toward the shared objectives of both countries. He said such an initiative feeds into objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which also seeks to reduce poverty and share prosperity between member-countries.
According to the Minister of Transport for Burkina Faso, Roland Somda, the edifice will enhance Burkina Faso Shippers Council operations and help it deliver on its mandate.
This mandate, he says, includes ensuring a regular supply of products, goods and various commodities to Burkina Faso in the best conditions of cost, speed and security; assisting shippers and protecting their interest; contributing to competitiveness of Burkinabe export products on the International market; undertaking all studies and research in the field of transport for the benefit of shippers and the national economy; and to ensure implementation of measures taken by the state to rationalise the transport and logistics chain.
