Cote d'Ivoire's directives threaten Ghana's maritime trade
Cargo inflows into the country could fall in the second quarter of the year following the enforcement of new directives on transshipment in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire.
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The consequence of the directives by Cote d’Ivoire is also likely to affect revenue generated from the port, particularly, at a time when the government is in dire financial distress.
The directives, issued in 2005 but are now being enforced, make it mandatory for all cargo originating from non-ECOWAS countries into Cote d'Ivoire to be discharged only at the Abidjan Port.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA), Dr Kofi Mbiah, admitted in an interview that the current directives by Cote d’Ivoire would have negative implications on the amount of cargo coming through the Takoradi and Tema ports.
"You know, we do business with Cote d'Ivoire and we have people here who may ship loads of cargo to the Tema or Takoradi ports not necessarily meant for Ghana but for Cote d'Ivoire,” he said, adding, “So if this is coming on, then it means that some traders may decide to divert their trade to the Abidjan Port to avoid having to cart them by ship again once they land in Ghana," Dr Mbiah told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS on May 20.
Should shippers resort to that practice in a bid to escape the inconvenience and costs associated with the directives from Cote d'Ivoire, the cargo throughput, a measure of the total amount of export and import cargo passing through the country, would fall sharply.
That would come about as a result of a decline in transit trade, which measures the amount of goods transiting the country into neighboring countries.
A decline in cargo throughput means that less goods are passing through the Tema and Takoradi ports and that would also translate into revenue loss.
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Protective attitude
Governments, past and present, have for years talked about the need to position Ghana as a maritime hub where cargoes meant for neighboring countries would first land before they are transshipped to their final destination.
Although achieving such a dream requires internal initiatives to make the two ports more attractive to traders, directives such as the recent one from Cote d'Ivoire threaten that ambition.
The CEO of the GSA admitted that Cote d'Ivoire's directives were protective but wondered if it was necessary for Ghana to retaliate in equal measure.
"Yes, a strict adherence to their directives has the tendency to impact trade between the two countries but should we also say we are applying the same law so that nobody, for example, can land their goods in the Port of Lome (in Togo) and drive them to Ghana?” he asked.
According to him, “If we also take retaliatory measures, then it means that everybody will restrict the docking of vessels to only cargo that is bound for their country," Dr Mbiah said.
He, however, explained that the current directive by the Ivorian government did not mean that the country was making it impossible for transshipment.
"You can transship, which means that when the goods are landed in the port of Tema or Takoradi, you can use the ship to take them to Abidjan but you cannot take them there by road," he added.
Solution
Whatever the situation, Dr Mbiah said Ghana, as well as Cote d'Ivoire, needed to work at making its respective ports attractive to shippers rather than issuing and enforcing directives that would restrict trade.
"I believe more in free trade. I believe that we must make the competitive urge work more for our people. If our ports become more efficient than that of Abidjan, shipping lines might make ours their preferred choice. But if the Port of Abidjan is more competitive than our ports, shipping lines might make it their preferred choice. We must be moving towards making our ports more attractive," he said.