GUTA and IEAG Warn of Rising Business Costs as Port Congestion and Digital Failures Disrupt Trade

The Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA) and the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana (IEAG) have issued urgent calls for government intervention to address escalating bottlenecks at the nation’s ports. The trade bodies warn that a combination of physical congestion at the Port of Tema and frequent outages of digital customs platforms is driving up the cost of doing business. These disruptions, if left unaddressed, threaten to undermine the government’s 24-hour economy policy and could lead to significant price hikes for consumers as the end-of-year festive season approaches.

GUTA has specifically highlighted a severe backlog at the Port of Tema, which the association attributes to the failure of shipping lines to clear unstuffed empty containers from the terminals. According to GUTA President Clement Boateng, this lack of space has forced cargo trucks to queue for nearly a week to access the port, resulting in mounting demurrage charges and significant financial strain on traders. The association is urging the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to engage immediately with shipping lines to restore operational efficiency and prevent a total gridlock during the upcoming peak import period.

Simultaneously, the IEAG has raised alarms over the reliability of the Ghana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) digital infrastructure. Executive Director Samson Asaki Awingobit reported that recent week-long outages on the Ghana.gov platform caused a near-standstill in customs and port transactions, leading to substantial financial losses for businesses reliant on these digital systems. The IEAG is calling on the GRA to invest in greater system resilience, regular maintenance, and robust backup protocols to ensure that trade facilitation is not jeopardized by technical failures in the future.

Despite these operational challenges, the IEAG noted some positive developments in the broader macroeconomic environment. The association praised the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Gold Board for their roles in stabilizing the foreign exchange market and facilitating a reduction in credit interest rates. These factors have provided some relief to the business community ahead of the Yuletide season. However, both GUTA and IEAG emphasize that these gains could be erased if the structural inefficiencies at the ports—both physical and digital—are not resolved through swift stakeholder collaboration.