By Uche Usim
TO surmount the challenges of lack of participation in the global value chain, the Union of African Shippers Council (UASC) has advocated closer ties among West African economies.
Speaking at the 10th General Assembly of UASC held at the weekend in Accra, Ghana, the Chairman for the UASC, Dr. Nortey Quarshie Omaboe, stated that there was need for effective linkages in economic activities among various African nation’s.
According to him, recent studies have shown that Africans should cooperate in activities such as farming, extraction of natural resources, research and development, manufacturing, design, management, marketing, distribution and post-sales services across the entire sub-regions value chain.
“It will therefore be essential for shipper’s organisations to analyse the entire value chain of their respective economies, isolate the common challenges and proffer solutions towards a removal of the bottlenecks that hinder a proper alignment of this linkages.
“Over the last couple of years, I have observed at close quarters some of the efforts of the Ghana Shippers Authority towards a reduction in the cost of doing business at her ports through their publication in national dailies I am of the firm belief and conviction that its impact would only be truly felt when a monitoring mechanism is put in place to ensure compliance.
“In the same vein, I have observed and keenly followed Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) efforts at capacity building for judges through the Maritime Law Seminars for judiciary, your consultative fora and stakeholder engagement seeking to address bottlenecks in the international trading system.
“These are indeed laudable and commendable initiatives. As shippers’ organisations within the sub-region, it would be my expectations that you would utilise the common umbrella that the UASC offers to harmonise your approaches towards the resolution of the myriad of shippers problems and develop common templates for trade facilitation in the sub-region”, he said.