The government will review taxes, duties and levies at the local ports to create a favourable business environment and make the country's ports an attractive destination that will draw in businesses from across the West African sub-region.
The Minister of Transport, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, who disclosed this, said this was part of the government’s effort to work with relevant stakeholders in the shipping industry to reduce the rising cost of doing business at the country’s seaports.
Consequently, he said, the government would review laws governing the country’s shipping industry to reduce the daunting bureaucracies associated with doing business at the ports.
These efforts are expected to improve the turnaround time at the ports and the general cost of doing business, which have an impact on the prices of goods and services in the country.
During a familiarisation tour of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) in Accra on Monday, the minister said this was part of the President's vision to boost economic growth and increase trade competitiveness in the region under the economic reset agenda.
“The President, in the electioneering, made a promise to reduce the cost of doing business at our seaports, and that has to do with a revision of the governing laws, the taxes, the duties and the levies at the ports,” Mr Nikpe said.
“And so, we would lead the course of ensuring that whatever laws that are being used at our ports are reviewed such that we create the enabling environment for all those who are within our ports to effectively operate and freely do business,” he added.
Towards that, he said, his ministry would engage the Ministry of Finance to review and simplify charges associated with clearing containers and goods to ease the cost of doing business at the ports.
He added that this effort would involve a range of activities aimed at ensuring that shipping lines and shippers had a smooth and comfortable experience conducting business at the ports.
Important role
Mr Nikpe said the Ghana Shippers’ Authority had an important role to play in the government’s agenda to revive and reset the economy towards the path of growth.
He explained that with effective collaboration, the 24-hour Economy initiative of the government could start within the shipping and logistics industry.
“We believe that the authority has a very important role to play in the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC’s) agenda of resetting Ghana, and the 24-hour Economy initiative begins within the shipping industry.
“We are optimistic that with the one job for three people initiative if we collaborate effectively, we can even do it one job for four people.
We are here to give you our firm assurance that we will work with you to protect the interest of shippers,” he said.
Bone of contention
The minister said his visit to the GSA was preceded by an earlier visit to the ship owners, who expressed some concerns about the GSA Act 2024 (Act 1122).
He explained that the legislation had become a point of contention between ship owners and the authority, with the former arguing that the regulator's role should not extend to asset management.
He said the ship owners believed that the bureaucracies were the main reason behind the rising cost of doing business at the ports.
“We have visited ship owners, and they had some concerns; visiting you and listening to you is also a way of getting to understand where the ministry and I will fit in to ensure that there is that kind of collaboration between the two parties, especially with Act 1122,” the minister said.
He added that before we could be operationalised, he would want to charge them to hold roundtable negotiations and see how they would all understand one another with the promise that they would look at the governing law that will remove some of the bottlenecks at the ports.
Based on an assessment, Mr Nikpe explained that it was quite clear that some of the government institutions conflicted in their activities at the ports.
He added that the government was committed to completing the Boankra Inland Port, a cargo handling facility, that would connect the ports of Tema and Takoradi to the interior of the country.
The new Act
The acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GSA, Prof. Ransford Gyampo, who welcomed the minister and his delegation, stated that the authority had been at the frontline of the country’s shipping industry since its establishment in 1974.
He, however, explained that rapid technological changes, especially the advent of containerisation in the dynamics of the shipping industry, required a new approach to address the marginalisation of developing the country's shipping industry.
Due to the development, he said, the law establishing the authority was reviewed into Act 1122, which was expected to help regulate the commercial activities of shippers and shipping service providers in the shipment, storage and delivery of international trade cargo by sea, air and land.
“Previously, our Act simply enforced us to protect shippers' interest, but there have been so many other avenues in which shippers’ interest lie and must be protected, and that was the reason the law was reviewed,” he added.
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