Post by Trade Coach on Sept 11, 2016 2:38:17 GMT 1
Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Ghana Export Promotion Authority, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and West Blue Consulting engage in cross border Collaboration
A delegation from the Nigerian Export Promotion Council have engaged in a cross border collaboration with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Ghana Export Promotion Authority as part of the Ghana national single window programme.
Facilitated by West Blue Consulting, the delegation together with their Ghanaian counterparts discussed issues bordering on key border processes and products, challenges and opportunities. They also discussed ways to reduce illicit trade between Ghana and Nigeria by the sharing of timely data information.
Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Olusegun Awolowo lauded the Ghana National Single Window programme stressing that it will have far reaching benefits for the country.
He bemoaned the fact that inter-Africa trade is weak as they account for 4% of global trade. He called for steps to be taken to encourage ECOWAS trade to blossom.
“Intra Africa trade is just so low. My own take, going round Africa and meeting with people and seeing goods and services we can offer ourselves, I believe everything Africa needs is in Africa.
But if we are not integrating and trading amongst ourselves, we risk to perish our continent,” he said. The Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, George Blankson said there was the need for developing economies to place emphasis on export rather than import in order to rake in the needed foreign exchange and resources for development.
“When it comes to trade facilitation, the facilitation should not be seen only in the context of import, we must also consider and perhaps most importantly how do we facilitate export,” he said.
The Executive Director of West Blue Consulting, Valentina Minta said there was the need for collaboration between Ghana and Nigeria in order to achieve a common goal of trade facilitation using the National Single Window. “Unlike our Western partners who have legacy systems and matured systems that haven’t been inter operating, we have brown to green fields so we can work in parallel. We don’t want to create the best Rolls-Royce for the single window in Ghana and the best Rolls-Royce of the single window in Nigeria but then we can’t use each other’s roads. When this happens you don’t achieve the ultimate vision and objective,” she noted.
The Nigerian delegation also paid a courtesy call on the Ghana Export Promotion Authority to exchange knowledge on how to forge better collaboration.
Source: www.ghanaports.gov.gh/news/1131/Nigerian-Export-Promotion-Council,-Ghana-Export-Promotion-Authority,-Ghana-Revenue-Authority-(Gra)-And-West-Blue-Consulting-Engage-In-Cross-Border-Collaboration--