The Ghana Shippers' Authority has partnered with a Pan-African retail bank to develop a payment product allowing maritime industry stakeholders from landlocked countries to efficiently access CFA Francs for industry-related transactions.
This development follows declining rates of transit trade volumes in Ghanaian ports, as cargo truck drivers and importers from Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have struggled with making payments to maritime concerns from Ghana.
According to Ecobank, the new product will ensure the facilitation of payments, the safekeeping of money, and will provide financial support for investments made in technology and other means.
Daniel Sackey, managing director of Ecobank Ghana and the regional executive director for Anglophone West Africa, was speaking at the Ecobank Shipping Forum in Tema.
"We are well aware that freight forwarders face issues such as inflation, trade wars, sanctions, and the rising cost of shipping, not leaving out Ghana's economic challenges resulting from the Debt Exchange Programme.
“The bank is offering smart financing solutions that provide quick access to working capital and asset finance at competitive rates and on flexible terms for qualifying clients," Sackey said.
Ecobank Ghana is also looking forward to the business generated as a by-product of the African Continental Free Trade Area and believes it could contribute to improving rates of transit trade volumes.
"AfCFTA would increase trading across borders, creating new opportunities for stakeholders, businesses, and how Ghana's desire to become a logistics hub in West Africa could be realized with growing infrastructure, especially at the sea and airports," said Sackey.
During a meeting between officials of the two organizations at Shippers' House in Accra, both organizations shared similar views on the security risks associated with carrying cash in CFA Franc to cater for cargo handling obligations and other services.
Fred Asiedu-Dartey, the Head of the Freight and Logistics Department, noted that according to the rules of the Bank of Ghana, there are no restrictions on commercial banks for trading in CFA Francs, and this new product would improve transit volumes.
"We have a payment problem that has translated into a safety problem because the truck drivers park on the shoulders of the road, waiting for payments from the importers and their agents before they move.
“This is why the payment platform by Ecobank is crucial to addressing not only the decline in transit volumes at our ports but also the risks these trucks pose to other road users," he noted.
The representatives of Ecobank organized a meeting with stakeholders to better understand the issues they are experiencing to direct the development of the payment product.
