It has become noteworthy that trade facilitation in Ghana has taken a positive turn over the past year and has brought about some sanity in the import and export business, coupled with the free and fluid flow of international trade in the country.
The Ghana Single Window Project (GSWP) was initiated on the 1st of September 2015 by the government of Ghana to enhance the country’s trade and economic development and secure and increase government revenue.
The government of Ghana contracted West Blue Consulting, a highly capable and reputable international IT firm to undertake this project. They were tasked to assist the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority to take over responsibility for import classification and valuation, undertake a full feasibility study and the implementation of the GSWP, develop a Risk Management System for Ghana Customs and related agencies as well as undertake specific interventions to support the above areas, including the development of a Container Scanning Strategy for Ghana Customs.
Unfortunately not many Ghanaians still understand the worth of such a huge project and its impact, directly or indirectly on their lives and on the economy of Ghana as a whole.
Customs all over the world are responsible for the classification and valuation of goods that arrive and go out of a country. That has not been the case in Ghana for some time past. In Ghana the concept of Destination Inspection Companies (DICs) was introduced in the year 2000 to replace the Pre-Shipment Inspection System which involved the inspection of imports before shipment from the country of departure. This caused a chunk of revenue to remain overseas.
Down the line the system came under a lot of scrutiny and pressure despite it not being a permanent system to augment the collection of taxes to improve revenue collection in the country. The pre-shipment Inspection system was seen as backward and not productive. Again, the government was not oblivious of the inefficiencies and unscrupulous activities from the other end thus the government of Ghana found it necessary to build the capacity of its customs service in order to enable them take over from the two systems- Pre-shipment Inspection System and the Destination Inspection System, as time went by.
The introduction of the GSWP is gradually bringing to an end, these genuine concerns and this can solely be attributed to the expertise and capacity of West Blue Consulting who have lived up to expectation as far as their contract obligations are concerned.
The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority now have the capacity and can boast of an unprecedented technical efficiency coupled with information technology capacity to discharge its duties effectively and efficiently. This is courtesy West Blue Consulting who is responsible for the creation of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) system which has enhanced the speed and efficiency of trade facilitation in the country.
Many Ghanaians will recall that, during the budget reading of the fiscal year 2013, the minister of finance announced categorically that the contracts of the 5 DICs were not going to be renewed and thus the customs division should position itself to takeover and resume valuation and classification functions.
Three years down the line, the evidence is clear that this bold move by the government has brought some decency in the import and export business.
Since West Blue Consulting took over, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) continues to exceed its revenue targets every quarter of last year. Customs now also processes over 500 Customs Classification And Valuation Reports (CCVR) per day as compared to the below 200 CCVRs in the past with the combined force of the five DICs.
Many countries around the world are currently focusing on implementing major trade facilitation reforms to enhance their competitiveness and increase their participation in the global economy and Ghana is one of such many forward thinking countries.
That is why it is imperative to commend the government and in particular president John Dramani Mahama for such an intervention as the GSWP.
One of the many key features of the Single Window Project is to provide a single entry point facility that will provide for the single submission by businesses, all information required for processing export, import or transit transactions by government agencies and private operators. The project will also to a large extent reduce the human interface in the trade transactions, allowing most processes to be undertaken automatically. This will greatly increase transparency and reduce the possibilities for irregular interventions and payments.
Again, and unfortunately, not many understand or want to understand the role WestBlue Consulting play in making all this possible. The Single Window concept which was developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in 2005 as an effort to harmonize and standardize trade procedures is not just an information technology system, although IT plays a significant role in the process, it goes beyond that.
A single window is an organic concept focusing on the way we do business, both within government and between government and businesses, ensuring the maximum integration, harmonization and standardization of the process, procedures and related information-flows within the international trade environment. It is essentially driven by the principle of a partnership between trade and government for economic development and prosperity.
West Blue Consulting doesn’t just qualify as an IT firm but also an authority in the business of trade facilitation.There are a thousand and one IT firms all around the world, but the question to ask is how many is an authority in the business of trade facilitation. Ghana is lucky to have West Blue Consulting on board as its GSWP managers.
West Blue Consulting has a huge reputation internationally especially in the sub-region. They are responsible for Nigeria’s Trade Hub which has seen tremendous and significant growth since its inception. Nigeria has benefitted tremendously and significantly from the many IT business solutions that have been introduced with the able support of West Blue Consulting. It must be duly noted that West Blue Consulting is responsible for the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund’s (UNICEF) warehouse management system.
West Blue Consulting doesn’t only deserve to be solely sourced to execute this project, but they have shown beyond reasonable doubt that they are committed to living up to their reputation and also to make sure that in the next few years Ghana is ranked better on the “Trading across Boarder” report.
With just a click on www.ghanastradinghub.com, one can get all the necessary shipping details needed to import and export goods. This is a one stop shop for all declarants and shipping agencies.
By David Acquah
