Ghana’s shipping cost regime and wider port pricing structure have come under renewed scrutiny, with the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) warning that fragmented regulatory responses across Africa continue to expose importers and exporters to escalating and often unpredictable charges that are “inflating the cost of trade” and weakening competitiveness on the continent.
A key concern is the continued practice by some international shipping lines of introducing what industry players describe as arbitrary and excessive fees along the logistics chain, including post-arrival charges that shippers say significantly distort final landed costs. The GSA argues that without coordinated continental intervention, such practices will persist and continue to undermine trade facilitation efforts across African ports.
The Chief Executive Officer of the GSA, Prof. Ransford Gyampo, has therefore called for stronger continental collaboration to address the pricing challenges, stressing the need for a united approach rather than isolated national responses. He noted that the current fragmented system across African jurisdictions weakens collective bargaining power and limits the continent’s ability to confront what he described as “unfair practices” within the shipping ecosystem.
Gyampo made the remarks during a working visit to the GSA in Accra by the Secretary General of the Union of African Shippers’ Councils (UASC), Abbba Kafougou Abdourahamane, ahead of a Steering Committee meeting scheduled to be held in Ghana in July 2026. The engagement formed part of broader discussions on strengthening institutional coordination among African shippers’ councils.
He indicated that Ghana has been pursuing regulatory and administrative measures aimed at improving transparency in shipping-related charges, including stakeholder engagement and targeted interventions to stabilise cost structures at the ports. As part of these measures, he referenced the introduction of a capped Container Administrative Charge of GH¢720 per Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU), replacing a previous charge of up to US$165 and shifting the billing structure from foreign currency to the local currency.
According to him, the policy shift is intended to reduce exposure to exchange rate volatility and enhance predictability in cargo clearance costs, particularly for businesses operating under tight margins and facing broader macroeconomic pressures. The reform is also expected to improve planning certainty for importers and exporters who rely on stable logistics pricing for supply chain decisions.
Gyampo further stressed that Africa’s response to shipping cost distortions must evolve beyond national-level interventions into a coordinated continental framework. He called on the UASC to deepen collaboration among member states and strengthen collective advocacy efforts, framed around “harmonised regulatory action” to address excessive and non-transparent charges imposed by some global shipping operators.
Responding to the concerns, the UASC Secretary General, Abdourahamane, commended Ghana for what he described as a proactive role in addressing shipping cost challenges, noting its influence in continental discussions on port and logistics pricing reforms. He characterised Ghana as “a giant” in ongoing efforts to confront unfair shipping charges and reaffirmed the Union’s commitment to closer collaboration with the GSA.
The engagement forms part of preparatory activities ahead of the UASC Steering Committee session expected to be hosted in Accra later in the year, with stakeholders anticipated to advance discussions on harmonising regulatory responses to shipping-related charges across the continent.
