Data from the State Insurance Company (SIC) has revealed that transit trade for the first quarter of 2022 decreased by 23 percent compared to the same period in 2021.
This was made known by the Head of Transit Bond Guarantee System at the SIC, Mr. Osei Ntiamaoh, at a meeting held by the Transit Shipper Committee of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) in the Western Region on Wednesday, 22nd June 2022 at the Takoradi Shippers Centre.
According to the data, a total of 425,503 metric tonnes of transit cargo passed through the ports of Ghana during the period. The cargo transited to Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo, Benin, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire.
He indicated that the Port of Tema handled over 95 percent share of the total transit trade for the period. Aflao border came next with a 2.5 percent share, Elubo with 2 percent and the Takoradi Port with 0.5 percent share of total transit trade.
The major challenge accounting for the low share of transit trade was the high cost of haulage transport and inefficient supply chain management along the transit trade value chain.
It was also observed that the Customs Division of GRA has resorted to warehousing and re-export of transit consignments which attracts added cost (1 percent of the value of the cargo).
Contributing to how to address challenges faced by transit shippers in Takoradi, the representative of the Burkina Chamber of Commerce, Yoda Seydou, called for stakeholder collaboration to improve supply chain performance, Customs to consider a review of the warehousing, and re-export regime currently being implemented in Takoradi.
Mrs. Agnes Asamoah Duku, Branch Manager of the Takoradi Branch Office of the GSA, underscored the important role of the committee and how its reports and suggestions have helped transit trade operations over the years.
On his part, the Chairman of the committee, Dr. Kingsley Antwi Boasiako, Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs at the Takoradi Port, informed the meeting that the Port of Takoradi was taking action to provide efficient services and offer competitive tariffs for transit cargo operations.
The Transit Shipper Committee is a platform created by the GSA to discuss challenges of transit trade along the major corridors, and come up with innovative solutions to enhance the competitiveness of transit shippers in using Ghana’s ports and transport corridors.
