As countries in West and Central Africa strive to outsmart each other in the race for which of them becomes the hub of shipping activities, the Ghanaian government has concluded plans to acquire new sets of scanning machines to further improve on its cargo clearance time.
To achieve this, the Ghanaian government is in talks with the Service Providers in that country to get them to finance the acquisition of the new scanners.
As countries in West and Central Africa strive to outsmart each other in the race for which of them becomes the hub of shipping activities, the Ghanaian government has concluded plans to acquire new sets of scanning machines to further improve on its cargo clearance time.
To achieve this, the Ghanaian government is in talks with the Service Providers in that country to get them to finance the acquisition of the new scanners.
Confirming the development in Lagos recently, the Managing Director of Gateway Service Limited, a subsidiary of global inspection giants, Cotecna Inspection Limited, Mr. Nabali Bawa, said that they are in talks with the government but that it is not yet concluded.
According to him, “Yes, as I mentioned they want to bring in more scanners, so they want all the Destination Inspection Companies to pull resources together to buy more scanners but you know it is only in the very early stages of our discussions.”
Bawa explained that they have also acquired a new mobile scanner which is on stand by. He noted that the fixed scanner which was installed since 2000 needs to complimented. The Ghanian Cotecna boss pointed out that they are also working at replacing the fixed scanner.
In his words, “Yes, we now have now have a mobile scanner since the last time you visited Ghana, when you visited our site. I have a mobile scanner to compliment the fixed scanner because we looking forward to replace the original scanners that we put in place since 2000, but we are still in discussion with the government but we wanted to be sure that we always have scanner available.”
He said that the goal of his company is to first facilitate trade which they have been doing in the past and also to transfer technology into Ghanian port operation. Bawa noted that they also help the Ghanian government to stop all form of vices in the operations in the port.
“Our goal is to first facilitate trade which we have done and then bring in technology into our system, help customs to protect government revenue. So that when people conceal, we are to expose the concealment so that they collect the additional revenue and also if there are penalties imposed, depending on the gravity of the offense, you pay.”
“You know with the scanners you make people psychologically behave properly, and of course, we create a lot of employment and a lot of knowledge, we help to build capacity for all the stakeholders that we do business with.”
“Clear faster so that government can make their money. Government can not make money if the cargo is sitting in the port. You can take it and say you want to auction but it is more work. It is better that business grow, if people an clear their goods and go and sale, then government can get their duty, income tax is going to increase, you know there is a ripple effect. So I hope that going forward, we can improve upon what we have been doing over the years”, he concluded.
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