By Doreen Ampofo
Stakeholders in the maritime industry have raised issues with their inability to move cargo directly from one African country to another. Currently, any cargo from Ghana to another country will have to be moved to Europe before getting to its final destination in Africa.
This comes at an extra cost and extra time for cargo to be transported. These came to light at a seminar by Maritime Courier Publications which discussed current maritime trends.
Speaking at the seminar the former Chief Executive of the Ghana Shippers Authority Dr Kofi Mbiah said apart from the lack of regional transportation connection in Africa, Ghana in particular needs to invest in and adapt to digitalization and AI systems at the ports or risk losing ships that dock at the ports.
Other issues raised were the mandatory introduction of a maritime single window in January next year, the maritime autonomous surface ships, reducing Carbon emissions in the maritime industry, the impact of unplanned regulations on freight, import and export as well as taxes and valuation of goods. Dr Mbiah indicated that Africa is not deriving maximum benefit from the growth in global maritime trade because of lack of investment.
According to Dr Mbiah UNCTAD wants port authorities and operators to fast-track digitalization and invest more in advanced technologies like AI, blockchain, single window systems. This is because such technologies are gradually creeping in and African countries like Ghana need to adapt quickly to stay relevant and reap the benefits.
“Like it or not, blockchain technology has come to stay. Machine learning has come to stay, the Internet of things has come to stay. And if you don’t incorporate this in your development as a port, by the time you realize no ships are coming to your port”
UNCTAD, he said is expecting global maritime trade to grow by 2.4% in 2023 and more than 2% between 2024 and 2028s. Despite this expected growth, however, Africa’s percentage share in this trade is extremely small. He added that while several countries are growing their GDP and transportation systems through trade, Africa unfortunately remains very much in the background. A major contributory factor he explained was the lack of Regional Transportation connections.
He said “someone called me three days ago, to inform me about some bulk cargo in Nigeria which they want to move over a period of a year to Cameroon but it’s a problem. The reason is that we don’t have sub-regional connectivity. It is absent.”
President of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) Eddie Akrong highlighted the importance of data to attract investment. While raising issue with the lack of vessels running the West African sub-region Mr Akrong said data on trade between countries in the sub-region is a necessity
“If you want to take a container right now to Congo from Ghana, it means it will have to leave here travel up to Europe, in Spain or something and come down. Why is that? Because we don’t have any vessels running our West African sub-region. But then again, you ask yourself, even if we did have vessels that were running these routes, vessels do not travel just like that. They need cargo. So if they run these routes, how are they going to have cargo to even say that I’m going to be profitable running this route rather than going the long road?, he said.
Mr Akrong stressed that it is important to build data on the kind of cargo mostly traded by African countries as well as the frequency of trade between countries. He said such building blocks will empower freight forwarders to confidently approach companies to
make a case for why they should be selected to carry their goods. For that vessel who wants to run the West African coast, Mr Akrong said it will aide them know how much cargo they are likely to trade in and whether that will make them self-sufficient.
Executive Secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana Sampson Aasaki Awingobit who spoke about regulations in the industry questioned excessive port taxes and involvement of foreigners in shipping.
“We have the local handling charges the shipping lines are taking. Some of them you ask yourself why? If I am clearing computers or diaries in a 20-footer container, why would you ask me to pay fees for cleaning or washing of containers? Doesn’t make sense.” he noted.
Mr Awingobit expressed worry about how some Ghanaians front for foreign shipping lines as owners. A situation he said was taking the locals out of business.
“And right now, they have ganged up because they say they have an association called the Ship Owners and Agents Association. In fact, they are all foreign companies. It is we the local people who front for them. We have fronted for these people wrongly and they have unduly overtaken us and they are taking these monies out of this country. We do not need a law in Ghana to say shipping agencies should be totally reserved for Ghanaians”.
Participants asked for a law that reserves certain jobs in the industry for Ghanaians only.