Ghana plans to sign and ratify a United Nations convention designed to modernize cargo documentation and improve access to trade finance, positioning Accra as a potential hub for the digital transformation of cross-border commerce in West Africa.
Trade, Agribusiness and Industry Minister Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare said Ghana is committed to the United Nations Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents, which is intended to ease longstanding difficulties in financing and trading goods transported by road, rail and air.
The convention is scheduled to open for signature in Accra on Oct. 26, making Ghana the venue for an international push to establish a common legal framework for negotiable cargo documents.
Ofosu-Adjare announced the commitment while opening a virtual sensitisation programme organized for ECOWAS member states on the convention.
The initiative could have implications for banks, exporters, importers, logistics companies and other businesses that rely on cargo documentation to obtain financing or transfer control over goods moving across borders.
The convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly on Dec. 15, 2025, through Resolution 80/162 and recommended to be known as the Accra Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents.
Its central objective is to address legal and commercial challenges surrounding the use of negotiable cargo documents for goods transported by land and air, potentially creating greater certainty for transactions in which cargo documents serve as instruments supporting trade and financing.
For West African economies seeking to deepen regional trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area, a harmonized framework could help reduce legal frictions associated with cross-border cargo transactions.
Ofosu-Adjare said the sensitisation programme should give ECOWAS governments an opportunity to examine the convention against their domestic legal systems and develop clear recommendations for consideration by their respective governments.
She also invited ECOWAS member states and international stakeholders to Accra for the Oct. 26 signing ceremony, describing Ghana as ready to host participants from across the region and beyond.
Anna Joubin-Bret, secretary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, and Kolawole Sofola, director of trade at the ECOWAS Commission, urged member states and other stakeholders to participate fully in the convention process.
They called for regional and international support for its signature, ratification and eventual implementation.
For Ghana, ratification would give the country an opportunity to shape the emerging legal architecture for negotiable cargo documents while reinforcing Accra’s role in efforts to integrate trade, finance and digital commerce across ECOWAS.
The immediate challenge will be to translate the convention into national law and to ensure that governments, financial institutions, transport operators and businesses can apply the framework consistently once it takes effect.
