The Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority (GPHA) predicts a possible 20-25% decline in cargo docks at the port this year, especially cargo entering the country from Russian-Ukrainian areas.

“Data collected from shippers indicates that due to the effect of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the traffic of goods in the country would drop, as about 25% of wheat and fertilizer imports into the country came from Ukraine and Russia,” said Mr. Michael Luguje, Director of GPHA. – General said.

Mr. Luguje said during the Seventh Meeting of Port Masters and Port Facility Security Officers (PFSOS) of the Ports Management Association of West and Central Africa (AGPAOC) in Tema.

The three-day meeting brought together port managers, harbor masters and port security officers from Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia and Senegal, among others in West and Central Africa, to share ideas , identify common port challenges and adopt holistic measures to mitigate them.

Mr. Luguje, who is also the President of PMAWCA, called on importers to look for other places of import, however, acknowledging that sourcing from other places comes with additional costs, which would obviously lead to a reduction quantities to import.

He stressed the need for port operators to also be resilient in their planning, taking into account the risk of an extreme contrary to the current situation.

“That extreme could be you wake up one morning and nothing moves, how do you solve it, so now every budget we formulate, we assume that we might wake up one day and have to manage half of that budget how are we going to survive with the other half,” he said.

The General Manager of the GPHA also instructs the port operators to develop a strategic plan and adopt measures in terms of cost planning, careful management of revenue and all other remote resources, including the use of technology to ensure efficient operation.

Mr Luguje also called for careful efforts to minimize the use of fossil fuels and electricity and encourage port operators to consider investing in wind power, as well as developing an interest in electronic vehicles , among others.

Source: GNA