Ghana risks losing a portion of its import trade to the Port of Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire if persistent congestion, delays and operational bottlenecks at its ports are not urgently resolved, the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana (IEAG) has warned.

The association said it was already receiving indications that some importers were considering routing their cargo through Abidjan because of the delays and uncertainty associated with clearing goods through Ghana’s ports.

It warned that the development could have serious implications for Ghana’s trade competitiveness, revenue mobilisation and the wider economy, particularly if importers establish reliable alternative supply chains through competing regional ports.

The Executive Secretary of the IEAG, Samson Asaki Awingobit, said once importers successfully shifted their cargo to another regional gateway and established dependable supply arrangements, it could become extremely difficult and costly to win the business back.

He therefore urged the government to treat the growing congestion as a national trade competitiveness issue and intervene before Ghana begins to permanently lose cargo volumes to competing ports.

Abidjan threat

Mr Awingobit said the possibility of cargo being diverted to Abidjan should serve as an early warning to the government, particularly as Ghana approaches the final quarter of the year and the December peak trading period.

He warned that a further increase in congestion during the peak season could result in longer cargo dwell times, higher storage and demurrage liabilities, prolonged truck queues and increased operational costs for importers and other businesses.

According to the IEAG, the problem goes beyond the physical accumulation of containers at the ports. It reflects broader weaknesses across the cargo-clearance chain, including Customs valuation and examination, shipping-line operations, terminal handling, documentation, transportation and regulatory processes.

These bottlenecks, it said, directly affect the cost, predictability and efficiency of doing business in Ghana.

“Ghana cannot pursue an ambitious trade and industrialisation agenda while its ports become increasingly expensive, unpredictable and time-consuming for importers,” the association said.

74% red-channel concern

The IEAG also raised concerns over what it described as excessive routing of containers for physical and intrusive examination, saying the practice was contributing significantly to congestion.

It said its preliminary information suggested that approximately 74 per cent of containers undergoing scanning were being routed to the Red Channel for physical or intrusive examination.

The association stressed that the figure required independent verification and called for an immediate, data-driven review of Customs’ selectivity and risk-management parameters.

It said the review should establish the proportions of consignments routed through the Green, Yellow and Red channels, as well as determine how many red-routed containers subsequently resulted in discrepancies, revenue recovery or enforcement action.

The association acknowledged Customs’ responsibility to protect state revenue and prevent smuggling, under-valuation, misclassification and other customs offences.

However, it cautioned that if an exceptionally high proportion of cargo was routinely subjected to intrusive examination, the risk-management system could itself become a source of congestion rather than a tool for facilitating legitimate trade.

Coordinated inspections

The IEAG further expressed concern over what it described as a breakdown in coordinated inspections involving Customs and other regulatory agencies.

It said where multiple agencies had legitimate regulatory interests in the same container, their interventions should be coordinated and conducted within a clearly defined inspection window.

The association also identified regulatory fees and charges, including recently increased charges, and long truck turnaround times as additional contributors to the congestion.

It called for an urgent government-led review of port-related fees and charges and a comprehensive examination of the entire cargo evacuation process.

That process, it said, should cover every stage from vessel discharge and terminal handling through Customs clearance, examination, truck appointment, loading and eventual exit from the port.

Chief of Staff intervention

The IEAG has consequently called for a high-level intervention led by the Chief of Staff to tackle the worsening congestion and operational bottlenecks.

Mr Awingobit made the call at a press conference on Monday following engagements with importers, freight forwarders, Customs house agents, transport operators and other stakeholders within the port ecosystem.

The association proposed that the Chief of Staff convene a high-level delegation comprising the Ministers of Finance; Trade, Agribusiness and Industry; and Transport, together with the heads of relevant port and regulatory agencies.

The delegation, it said, should undertake a comprehensive stakeholder engagement and develop an immediate action plan to restore efficiency and predictability at the ports.

Mr Awingobit said the association’s preliminary assessment showed that the congestion could not be attributed to one institution or a single operational failure.

Rather, he said, it was systemic and cut across Customs valuation and examination, inspection protocols, regulatory charges, terminal operations, truck turnaround times and inter-agency coordination.

He therefore argued that the situation required high-level inter-ministerial intervention rather than isolated engagements between individual agencies.

Time targets for agencies

The association also proposed measurable performance targets for agencies operating within the port ecosystem.

These should include maximum turnaround times for Customs examinations, valuation disputes, regulatory inspections, truck processing and cargo release.

“Every agency operating within the port ecosystem must be held accountable for the time its process adds to the clearance chain,” the association said.

It warned that without decisive action, congestion could worsen significantly during the December peak trading period, further increasing cargo dwell time, storage and demurrage costs, truck queues and other operational expenses.

The IEAG stressed that Ghana needed a port system that did more than generate government revenue.

It said the ports must also facilitate trade efficiently, predictably and competitively, warning that failure to address the current bottlenecks could strengthen competing regional gateways and accelerate the diversion of Ghana-bound cargo to Abidjan.