Stephen Odoi-Larbi
14 October 2008
The President of the Association of Ghana Industries, Mr. Tony Oteng-Gyasi has complained bitterly about the monopoly that exists in the shipping industry, a situation that he said requires action, both at the policy level and by legal means, because of its negative effect on the industry. The situation has led to the sector becoming less competitive.
According to him, the monopolistic behaviour by a group of Liner Service Providers, which have foreign ownership, has resulted in the charging of high freight rates at the country's sea ports.
"As a result of these illegalities and unfair trade practices, shipping has become one of the bottlenecks in the quest to accelerate growth in this economy", noted Mr. Oteng-Gyasi, in his acceptance speech as the Chairman for the third Maritime Law Seminar for judges in Accra, on the theme -"Judiciary; a bulwark for the protection of international commercial interests," last Thursday.
His argument was based on a publication of documented papers presented at the International Trade and Maritime Conference in 2006, by the Ghana Shippers Council and was addressed by Mr. Emmanuel Martey, who was then Deputy Chief Executive of the Council on the issue of high freight rates in West Africa.
A section of page 109f in the paper states -"West Africa is suffering from high freight factor, principally because most of the liner service providers have their ownership outside the sub-region, especially in OECD countries and belong to strong price-setting conferences who dictate price to economically weak shippers from the sub-region".
The situation, according to Mr. Oteng-Gyasi was a well known factor by players in the shipping industry and demanded for a clear cut solution in order to make the industry competitive and efficient.
About nine (9) major shipping lines who ply the Europe-West Africa control over 40% of the liner trade in Ghana, a situation which Mr. Oteng-Gyasi said was crippling the growth of the shipping industry.
He, therefore, advocated for the establishment of a Ghana based shipping line to rectify the situation. This, he said, is realizable if the government agrees to guarantee any such line and portion of the country's export cargos, especially cocoa.
The Minister of Ports, Harbours and Railways, Professor Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi lauded the suggestion and encouraged the private sector to take the initiative.
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