ECOWAS States to Link up by Rail (Back Page)

Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah

THE Economic Commission of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Secretariat has planned a project to link countries in the sub-region by a rail network.
Towards that end, the Secretariat has appointed consultants to do a feasibility study to develop a railway system to link the member countries.
The project is borne out of the Commission’s desire to connect countries in the sub-region with each other by a railway network towards cheaper and easier means of transporting cargo from the ports to the hinterlands.
This was made known by the Minister of Harbours and Railways, Professor Ameyaw-Akumfi, in a speech read on his behalf by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Mr Brain Adomako, at the opening of the 6th Inter-modal Africa 2008 Conference and Exhibition held in Accra yesterday for stakeholders in the maritime transport in Africa.
According to the minister, as part of the desire of the government of Ghana to open the hinterlands, it had plans to develop the railway system to the northern part and the Inland Port Project at Boankra in the Ashanti Region.
The neighbouring countries of Ivory Coast, Togo and Nigeria, as well as the landlocked countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, use the ports of Ghana for the transportation of their containers.
The two-day programme, which has participants and exhibitors from countries in Africa, has the objective of helping people in the maritime transportation industry to exchange ideas, knowledge and experience and also promote links and contacts among maritime communities for further co-operation and possible mergers in the future.
On display at the exhibition mounted at the foyer of the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) were modern equipment, documents and logistics used in the port industry.
Prof Ameyaw Akumfi said in their desire to develop transport modes in the port industry in the sub-region, stakeholders must acknowledge the fact that competition between the modes had tended to produce transportation system that was segmented and integrated.
He therefore called for integration that permitted the issuance of single document for transaction to reduce cost.
He called on freight forwarders to form partnerships with shipping companies, adding that shippers should also establish logistic platforms in their respective countries and also form intra-regional organisations to promote Inter-modal systems to enhance the delivery of cargo through the ports in Africa.
Inter-modal transportation involves the transportation of freight in containers or vehicles using multiple modes of transportation such as rail, ship and trucks without any handling of the freight itself when changing the modes.
In his welcoming address, the Director-General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Mr Ben Owusu Mensah, said the authority was putting in place strategic structures to ensure quick dispatch of cargo and vessels through the Port of Tema and ultimately attract more cargo through the port, thereby making the Tema Port the true gateway to the West African sub-region.
He said currently, about 85 per cent of projects to improve on the activities of the port had been completed and that with the exception of the Landlord Port Bill, which was still under consideration, GPHA had completed all the strategic action plans it was mandated to undertake under the Gateway Programme.
In an interview, the Human Resource Manager of the GPHA, Mr Abraham Mensah, said so far, about 300 participants had registered for the event which was organised by Transport Events Management of Malaysia, and stated that the conference, organised on rotational basis, was last held in Namibia in 2007.
He said Ghana stood to benefit from the event as some of the participants who toured the Tema Port on Wednesday were likely to invest in the country in the area of stevedoring activities, warehousing and port equipment hiring services, among others.
In his opening remark as the Chairman of a first discussion session on the theme, “The Future of Global Trade and the Economy: Keeping up with the Accelerated Growth and Containerised Freight”, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Shippers Council, Mr Kofi Mbiah, said the era of containerisation had revealed great possibilities and opportunities, as well as threats for the industry, which needed to be discussed.
He observed that although there were worries about trade agreements between developed and developing countries, these trade agreements were encouraging many countries to increase their output and venture into the production of non-traditional items.
“New discovery of natural resources and the demand for technology to manage and control them will continue to boost international trade,” he pointed.