According to panellists at the Regional Maritime Stakeholder Conference on Global Best Practices in Vessel Clearance, fostering high compliance would significantly improve the fortunes of the African shipping industry.
The panellists who spoke on the subject of "Positioning our Ports and Terminals for the Blue Economy and the AfCFTA Opportunity" concurred that there are numerous opportunities to draw more ships to the continent, provided that strict adherence to the rules that govern the operations at the ports would be enforced.
They said that doing so would significantly cut the amount of time it took for ships and goods to cross customs, which would promote the sector's expansion.
The National Coordinator-Port Standing addressed the Stakeholder Conference on Thursday, January 19, 2023 in Accra.
Moses Fadipe, the National Coordinator-Port Standing Task Team (PSTT) and Deputy Director of Nigeria's Shippers' Council (NSC), stated that his organisation has started to gain from rigorous compliance at the Stakeholder Conference on Thursday, January 19, 2023 in Accra.
He stated that last year's tight enforcement and high conformity to port rules by the NSC resulted in a decrease in the time needed for a vessel to receive clearance to load or discharge cargo and also carry out other activities. From five hours to one hour, the vessel waiting time was cut in half (1hr).
In response to the issue, Fred Asiedu-Dartey, Head of the Freight and Logistics Division at the Ghana Shippers' Authority (GSA), cited the Ghana Shippers Awards as an illustration of how individuals and organisations in the industry are recognised for compliance among other things in order to inspire others to model the desirable behaviour.
"We are putting in some measures to make sure that shippers who are complying in that area are suitably recognised," he said of the Ghana Shippers Award, which has been established.
Given that the operating conditions of the industry are comparable, he asked other African countries to share best practises and learn from one another.
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