Ghana Sees 10% Growth in Cargo Traffic

Aerial view from drone, container ship in import export and business logistic by craneAerial view from drone, container ship in import export and business logistic by crane

Ghana is a West African nation with a population of more than 28 million people. It also boasts rapidly increasing trade. Ghana just projected a growth in trade of 10-percent by the end of 2018.

Twin Ports

They’ve seen double-digit growth in their import rates for multiple years. This suggests an increase in buying power and industrial viability. Exports have also increased substantially, though not as swiftly as imports. This makes Ghana a more viable option for importing to West Africa.

The chief ports of Ghana are the Port of Sekondi-Takoradi and the Port of Tema. The Port of Sekondi-Takoradi was built in the 1920s. In the last decade, it has seen years of significant improvement projects, driven largely by a new oil and gas industry. It’s benefited container shipping in Africa as well, and the port now handles 65% of the country’s exports.

The port of Tema isn’t as old, built in the 1950s. It’s seeing current investment that is driving its usefulness as a container port, with funding going toward a fleet of cranes and reach-stackers.

Reforms & Modernizations

The Ghana Shippers’ Authority has been implementing a number of new operations reforms. These are all driven to facilitate increased trade.

At the same time, Ghana’s government is making noise about cracking down on corruption and graft. Ghana’s an intriguing place to do business in West Africa, particularly as concerns new construction projects and modernizations of various older facilities. This makes construction shipping a good opportunity here.

Among other elements being employed is a paperless system for goods clearance. This helps facilitate trade by increasing speed and efficiency.

Efficiency is a renewed point of focus. Currently, Ghana sees demurrage as one of its major lost costs. (Demurrage is a charge payed to the owner of a ship when cargo isn’t loaded or unloaded on a timely enough schedule.) The hope is for Ghana to continue a modernization push that drives its economy upward. If it can keep up import/export figures like it has the last few years, it makes an interesting opportunity for importing to West Africa and construction shipping in the future.