Bolgatanga, Dec. 03, GNA – The Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA) has engaged Police Officers in the Upper East Region to build their capacity, as part of efforts to address road governance challenges at Ghana’s corridors and boost transit trade with neighbouring landlocked countries.
The engagement was also to enable the stakeholders to appreciate the importance of Transit Trade to the growth of the economy and plan strategies on how the Police Officers especially those deployed at the corridors could contribute to address the bottlenecks at the country’s Transit Trade value chain and build a system to increase revenue mobilisation.
It was also to equip the Police Officers to work to ensure that the landlocked countries had access to sea-coasts for their international trade, done in accordance with the Regional and international legislation, protocols and agreements and treaties governing transit trade.
Ms Benonita Bismarck, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers Authority in a speech read on her behalf noted that Transit Trade had over the years become a significant component of the country’s seaborne trade and contributed immensely to the growth of the economy.
She said a study conducted by the Ghana Shippers Authority in 2015 revealed that apart from the several entities including fuel stations, hotels, and restaurants among others which benefit directly from the Transit Trade, tangible financial benefits were accrued to operators along the transit logistics chain.
“For instance, the study showed an estimated total revenue of GH¢204million accrued to the economy from some of the quantifiable services provided by various operators involved in the delivery of transit services.
“These were payments for services in relation to the handling of transit cargo from both Tema and Takoradi ports, State Insurance Company, the National Guarantor for the bond value, fees to Ghanaian Haulage truckers, operators of the electronic tracking device and for Freight Forwarders services,” she said.
Ms Bismarck said the Authority over the years worked to improve upon trade including the signing of Memorandum of Understanding with neighbouring landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali but there were still some activities along the corridors that had the tendency to derail the gains made.
“For instance, feedback from the Authority’s E-platform system for monitoring Non-Tariff Trade Barriers along Ghana’s major corridors and quarterly fact-finding trips have revealed several road governance challenges involving transit truck drivers and key state actors such as the Police MTTD, Customs, Ghana Highway Authority and others,” she added.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Mr Alexander Amenyo, the Deputy Upper East Regional Police Commander, noted that country continued to face challenges from the landlocked countries and the Police Service had taken security at the corridors seriously.
He said despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Transit Trade along the corridors was still high and there was the need for all stakeholders including the Ghana Shippers Authority to work with the service to ensure that the necessary security was provided while aiding revenue mobilisation for the growth and development of the country.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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