UASC to Collaborate with AFCFTA Secretariat to Effectively Implement the Agreed Trade Protocols

The Ghana Shippers Authority on 1st March 2021 received an eight members country delegation from the Union of African Shippers’ Council (UASC) at Ghana Shippers House.

The delegation which was in Ghana to visit the Africa Continental Free Trade (AfCFTA) Secretariat comprised of Nigeria, Benin, Angola, Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cameroon, Togo and Burkina Faso.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority Ms. Benonita Bismark in welcoming the delegation said that her organization had arranged working sessions with the AfCFTA Secretariat and some relevant State Agencies for the delegation to engage to better understand and clarify some of the challenges that some countries are facing with the implementation of the AfCFTA.

She said the GSA has already met with Secretary General of AfCFTA to discuss ways of cooperation to educate shippers and the trading public on the mandate of AfCFTA and ways of collaborating to resolve cross non- tariffs Trade barriers.

Mr Giscard Lilian Ogoula the Secretary-General of UASC said the delegation’s presence in Ghana was to build a long-lasting partnership with the AfCFTA Secretariat to implement the Trade agreement and that the Union Council was in a position to help operationalize the Agreement in terms of training, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation of non-tariff barriers, data collection amongst others.

He added that the UASC wants to get a better understanding of the implications of the AfCFTA and also to explore the potential for a Memorandum of Understanding with the Secretariat that would help members to better support the implementation of the Agreement in their various countries.

Mr Ogoula said the Shippers Councils had already put in place some measures to ensure smooth and enhanced cross border trade among African States and these measures must be built on by the AfCFTA Secretariat to achieve success.

The UASC is a 19-member country body formed in 1977 and is headquartered in Douala, Cameroon. It is the umbrella body of Shippers’ Councils in the West and Central African sub-region with the aim of contributing to sub-regional economic integration policies, simplifying administrative formalities in international maritime traffic among others.