Ghana makes headway to establish itself as an important gateway to the West African market. Despite factors like plunging oil prices impacting the economy, the country has seen major developments like Swissport Ghana and the new state of the art cargo centre at Kotoka International Airport in the recent times to maximise its trade potential. Twinkle Sahita reports.
With more than 25 million people, Ghana, one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, ranked 88th out of 160 countries on the latest World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2016. It outpaced Nigeria in LPI 2016. Considered a major gateway in West Africa, Nigeria stands at 90th position in the LPI 2016.
Ghana’s market is extremely competitive and it has been hit hard in recent years with very high inflation and a sluggish economy. Despite the political situation being stable, there is a need for the economy to stabilise to bring about economic recovery. The major imports are consumer electronic goods, mining spares, oil related spares. On the export side, it is almost 100 percent perishable goods fruits and vegetables. South African Airways Cargo cites lower oil and commodity prices as the reasons for African economies to be under strain. Despite the obstacles, it plans intra Africa expansion. “In West Africa routes, sectors already serviced and expanded out of Johannesburg is Abuja, Nigeria, Lagos, Cotonou, Dakar-New York sector, Abidjan and the Accra-Washington DC sector. In addition, we have planned to implement about three freighter routes in the southern region. We will also have additional frequencies to some of the routes already being operated,” says Tleli Makhetha, general manager, South African Airways Cargo. Cargolux, Europe’s leading all-cargo airline, handles 5000 tonnes of imports and 4000 tonnes of exports per year in Ghana, also finds crisis in oil industry a major challenge. “The plunge in oil prices has affected the economy in Ghana and this has also had an impact on the oil equipment/supply business which has fallen in recent months. While the oil industry has been impacted, there has still been a growth in imports and exports in other sectors which has still led to an overall growth in imports and exports,” says Jonathan Clark, regional director Africa, Cargolux. At the moment, Cargolux has no plans to expand services to/from Ghana, however if the market picks up in the future or if they see the potential to operate a hub and spoke system with a reliable partner in Ghana, then they would expand services. Trade represents a significant portion of every country’s economic growth. African continent still isn’t a major source of exports and its consumer markets are tiny in comparison to Asia, Europe or the Americas, despite its enormous size. Apart from the current challenges, lack of efficiency in infrastructure has been decreasing the competitive levels of this major continent. Out of the eight airports, the country has only one international airport in Accra (Kotoka International Airport). For airfreight, Kotoka in Accra is the only gateway in Ghana as there is no viable alternative airport.