By Wisdom JONNY-NUEKPE
The World Bank says tackling clearance delays, improving border management and strengthening operational efficiency could deliver some of the quickest gains for Ghana’s business environment as the country seeks to expand trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
According to the World Bank, port clearance delays in the country are constraining trade and slowing private-sector growth.
Addressing dignitaries at a high-level B-READY working session in Accra, Senior Economist-World Bank Business Ready Unit Subika Farazi indicated that operational inefficiencies, particularly at the borders, remain a major drag on the country’s trade competitiveness.
The World Bank notes that port clearance through Ghana’s ports takes significantly longer than in some peer African economies, with exports averaging nine days and imports stretching to 23 days.
Providing more context, Farazi noted that in Ghana it takes on average nine to 23 days for export and import clearance, which on average takes around five to eight days in Cameroon.
The port delays form part of broader findings from the World Bank’s B-READY assessment – which indicates that while Ghana has relatively strong business regulations, weaknesses emerge in how efficiently those rules are implemented.
The Bank disclosed that in terms of the operational efficiency pillar, Ghana’s relative performance is not as strong; with several peer economies, including Togo, Senegal, Cameroon and Cape Verde, recording stronger scores.
The country however performs best under the regulatory pillar but falls behind several peer economies when assessed on operational efficiency.
World Bank data show Ghana outperforming most regional peers in regulation and public services, ranking highest in the regulatory pillar and second only to Togo in public service delivery.
But efficiency gaps, particularly at the borders, continue to weigh heavily on businesses involved in import and export activities.
At the sectoral level, the country scores strongly in financial services, labour and business entry but struggles in areas closely linked to trade performance, including market competition.
“Overall, Ghana’s business readiness ranges from 72 percent in financial services to 34 percent in market competition,” Farazi explained, adding that although labour indicators remain among the strongest, bottlenecks in trade-related processes persist.
The session brought together senior government officials, private-sector leaders and World Bank teams to examine constraints affecting food processing, light manufacturing and trade facilitation, key components of government’s 24H⁺ programme
Post Views: 1
Discover more from The Business & Financial Times
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
