Customs World acquires West Blue Ghana Ltd

A Dubai-based company, the Customs World, has acquired West Blue Ghana Limited in the provision of a national single window and risk management system in Ghana.

Customs World, which is a subsidiary of Ports Customs and Free Zones Corporation (PCFC) of Dubai, operates in over 40 countries, including the United States (US), is expected to boost the country’s trade facilitation programme, which was being spearheaded by West Blue Ghana Limited.

A member of the West Blue Board, Mr Kwame Sowu, who confirmed the acquisition deal to the Daily Graphic said the agreement formalised the establishment of “Ports and Customs World Ghana Limited.”

As part of the agreement, Customs World International will invest significant resources, including capital, world-class technologies and human expertise in the country’s single window operations as they have done in other countries.

The implementation of the new systems will be based on a robust risk engine that will improve efficiency in the country’s ports and customs operations and increase government’s revenue and reduce the cost of doing business at the ports.

The acquisition by Customs World is expected to automate customs, free zones and port processes in the country and build the country’s capacities through the application of technology and services that will mirror the operational model in Dubai.

“This solution will be implemented through segments such as the Risk Engine, Mirsal 2, the Client Management System, Smart Applications and the management of free zones and customs warehouses”, Mr Sowu said in an interview.

Operating in several countries

Customs World, under the Ports Customs Free Zones Corporation founded DP World, which is currently present in 40 countries and 78 ports around the world including Australia, US, United Kingdom, France, Korea, Canada, Belgium, Indonesia, Thailand, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, and India.

In 2016, Dubai Customs received an award for innovation from the World Customs Organisation, which is the highest award for the maturity of a customs organisation.

In 2012, the World Customs Organisation gave them a certificate to recognise them as a benchmark for industry practices citing that “Dubai Customs has an impressive range of IT Systems which can be rightly regarded as World Class in which other Customs Administrations around the world could learn from.”

The Chief Executive Officer of West Blue, Ms Valentina Mintah, welcomed the takeover, saying: “We have made significant strides in the last few years with the Ghana National Single Window and in the recent month, the paperless clearance system.

 Dubai embarked on a similar paperless journey in 2005 and has moved to a fully automated world class award winning system within a short period of time.

“This new combination of local and global expertise, taking into consideration Ghana’s own unique trade environment, will ensure we fasttrack the gains already made in Ghana, for the benefit of the trading community, government and ultimately the citizens of Ghana,” Mr Sowu said .

Opportunity for integration

The Chairman and CEO of DP World and Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zones Corporation, Mr Ahmed bin Sulayem, expressed enthusiasm about the acquisition, saying: “We are excited about the opportunity to implement fully integrated ports, customs and free zones solution for Ghana which is operationally seamless from end to end to make Ghana’s Ports and Customs Systems the number one in West Africa.”

Mr Faisal Eissa Lutfi, CEO of Customs World, applauded the agreement and described the takeover as a well-planned step that would advance and boost customs and ports efficiency in Ghana.

World Customs ranking

Dubai Customs was ranked third  globally by the World Economic Forum’s Burden of Customs Procedure.

 On an efficiency scale of one (inefficient) to seven (extremely efficient) Dubai scored six ahead of the United Kingdom (11th), United States (30th), Korea (44th).

According to the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index, Dubai Customs rose from 27th in 2014 to 13th in 2016, ahead of Canada (14th), France(16th), South Africa (20th), Korea (24th), Malaysia (32nd) and Ghana (88th). Dubai Customs ranked higher than all these countries in customs efficiency, logistical competence, infrastructure and timeliness.