Serene Insurance, one of Ghana’s leading indigenous insurance companies has called on the trading public to purchase its attractive marine insurance policies during the importation and exportation of their goods to and from the country.

Marine Insurance has become imperative for shipping worldwide from both a legal as well as a business perspective. Its importance to international trade cannot be overemphasized.

Speaking on Eye on Port on the impact of marine insurance on Ghana’s Maritime Trade, the Head of Marketing at Serene Insurance, Mrs. Eugenia Agyiri-Tettey entreated the importing public in Ghana to purchase its marine insurance policy which covers transfer of goods from the warehouse of the supplier abroad to the warehouse of the buyer in Ghana.

The Head of Marketing at Serene Insurance explained that purchasing marine insurance saves traders from dire ramifications associated with loss or damage of expensive cargoes.

“These are capital intensive investments. Assuming someone is sending in a 40-footer container of pharmaceutical products from abroad, it can run into billions of cedis. You can’t bank in on hope that it will arrive safely. You have to protect the goods,” she cited.

Mrs. Agyiri-Tettey argued that contrary to the opinion of some sections of the public, the company in addition to its attractive policies, has the capacity and experience to provide marine insurance covers.

She added, “there is what we call reinsurance where once a big claim comes our way, all equally liable companies that we gave insurance to, contribute to pay the claim.”

Contributing to the subject, the Head of Underwriting at Serene Insurance, Mr. Kingsley Akuoku-Boakye, said the patronage of marine policies locally has been woefully inadequate with his company selling just around 500 policies per annum.

While calling for increased patronage of its marine insurance policies, he assured of efficiency when it comes to the payment of claims at Serene Insurance. Kingsley Akuoko-Boakye revealed that both its marine hull and marine cargo categories of insurance should be patronized by actors in the shipping industry.

“Marine hull type insures the vessel against any damage to vessel of any liability assumed from your fault while marine cargo protects the goods on the vessel,” he explained.

He also urged the Ghanaian trading community to purchase these policies which are comprehensive yet, have been simplified to be understood by the ordinary businessman.

The Head of Marketing at Serene Insurance, Eugenia Agyiri-Tettey, however, attributed the low patronage of marine insurance locally to the non-enforcement of the marine insurance act.

She lauded the National Insurance Authority for its current drive to enforce the law requiring marine insurance to be purchased locally. “NIC is doing very well when it comes to reinforcement.

So, when the law is fully enacted and there is a penalty attached, I am sure most people would start purchasing insurance here.”

The Executives at Serene Insurance said not only are customers guaranteed quality services, but their rates are competitive, flexible, custom-made and can be negotiated to suit the need of clients.

They urged the Ghanaian trading public to support indigenous companies like Serene Insurance to retain money in Ghana that would grow the local insurance industry.

Expansion works on the dry bulk terminal at the Port of Takoradi is steadily progressing.

When completed the dry bulk terminal would be equipped with modernized equipment for handling increased volumes of bauxite, manganese, clinker, gypsum, limestone and other varieties of bulk cargoes significant to everyday domestic and industrial use.

Phase 1 of the Dry Bulk Terminal has its jetty of 800 quay wall with draft of -16m CD completed and considered to be the deepest bulk jetty in West Africa.

Currently, the entire jetty is being paved as well as the installation of modern conveyor systems and other utility facilities that would transform the receipt and delivery of bulk cargo at an unprecedented rate in the port.

Engineer’s Representative at the Dry Bulk Terminal for the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Kwame Agyenim Boateng elaborated saying, “we are not going use the traditional system to onload and offload cargo like bauxite currently being done at the port after the installations are done. When such materials are ready, cargo would be loaded at the stockpile areas unto the conveyor belt systems which would pour directly via ship loaders into the hulls of the vessel.”

The 2nd phase of the dry bulk terminal costs USD 70M and Amandi Investment Limited is the contractor for the project.

The New Ultramodern Liquid Bulk Terminal at the Port of Takoradi, commissioned by the Vice President in September 2020, is expected to begin operations by May 16, 2021.

The state-of-the-art liquid bulk terminal which cost about USD 56.7M was built and would be operated and managed by Marshall Oil and Gas Services, a subsidiary of the IbisTek Group of Companies.

It consists of a -14m chart datum, 5 loading arms for the various petroleum products which are petrol, diesel, LPG, heavy fuel and bitumen.

It has a berthing capacity to handle vessels of up to 60,000 tons of petroleum cargo.

In an interaction with Eye on Port, Dr. Felix Nana Sackey, the CEO of Atlantic Terminal Services, a subsidiary of IbisTek, disclosed that staff have been recruited and are being trained ahead of the commencement of operations.

Dr. Sackey said the Liquid Bulk Terminal is fully automated and unlike any other in the subregion. He said, “this jetty is fully automated. Everything is automated, from the loading arms to the valves and the connectivity to the tank farms.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Atlantic Terminal Services, Dr. Felix Nana Sackey, has assured of the timely delivery of 1st phase of the Atlantic Multipurpose Terminal project which is currently 71% complete.

He said, “We are at the tail end of the construction and we believe that come November 2021, this facility would be ready for operations.”

The construction of the 1st phase of the project which cost USD 210m began in August 2019 and has seen dredging of a 600m quay wall with -16m depth completed, with construction of the capping beam and terminal’s yard space of 10 hectares ongoing.

Contractor for the project is Belgian company, Jan De Nul whereas Dutch company, Royal Haskoning DVH serves as the consulting engineering firm.

Speaking with Eye on Port, the CEO of Atlantic Terminal Services said the terminal’s -16 metre depth will position the Atlantic Terminal and the Port of Takoradi at a competitive advantage in the port and maritime industry because of its ability to receive the largest container vessels in the world.

“The -16m depth is the critical game changer in the industry in West Africa. We believe that when this port is completed, it will compete with any other port in the rest of the world in terms of size and depth,” Dr. Sackey emphasized.

He disclosed that world class equipment which include Ship to Shore Cranes and Mobile Harbour Cranes have been procured and that their transfer onto the terminal space will follow gradual procedure.

While revealing the company’s deliberate plan for local participation, Dr. Nana Sackey also assured the trading public of expert professional management of vessel and cargo handling services at the terminal.

He urged importers and exporters in Ghana and across the subregion to reconsider routing their cargoes through what he called one of the best port facilities across the region.

“They should really have a second look at Takoradi, because all the bottlenecks here have been removed and come November Takoradi would be the most efficient port in West Africa.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Atlantic Terminal Services, Dr. Felix Nana Sackey, has assured of the timely delivery of 1st phase of the Atlantic Multipurpose Terminal project which is currently 71% complete.

He said, “We are at the tail end of the construction and we believe that come November 2021, this facility would be ready for operations.”

The construction of the 1st phase of the project which cost USD 210m began in August 2019 and has seen dredging of a 600m quay wall with -16m depth completed, with construction of the capping beam and terminal’s yard space of 10 hectares ongoing.

Contractor for the project is Belgian company, Jan De Nul whereas Dutch company, Royal Haskoning DVH serves as the consulting engineering firm.

Speaking with Eye on Port, the CEO of Atlantic Terminal Services said the terminal’s -16 metre depth will position the Atlantic Terminal and the Port of Takoradi at a competitive advantage in the port and maritime industry because of its ability to receive the largest container vessels in the world.

“The -16m depth is the critical game changer in the industry in West Africa. We believe that when this port is completed, it will compete with any other port in the rest of the world in terms of size and depth,” Dr. Sackey emphasized.

He disclosed that world class equipment which include Ship to Shore Cranes and Mobile Harbour Cranes have been procured and that their transfer onto the terminal space will follow gradual procedure.

While revealing the company’s deliberate plan for local participation, Dr. Nana Sackey also assured the trading public of expert professional management of vessel and cargo handling services at the terminal.

He urged importers and exporters in Ghana and across the subregion to reconsider routing their cargoes through what he called one of the best port facilities across the region.

“They should really have a second look at Takoradi, because all the bottlenecks here have been removed and come November Takoradi would be the most efficient port in West Africa.”

As part of efforts to make the payment of taxes more convenient, increase compliance and widen the tax net, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has rolled out some initiatives in its digitalization drive.

Effective June 1 2021, the Ghana Revenue Authority will cease accepting personal and corporate cheques for payment of taxes and duties at the Ports of Ghana.

Speaking on Eye on Port, the Head of Audit at the Large Taxpayer Office (LTO) of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Dr. Martin Yamborigya revealed that the GRA has contracted certain participating banks where from May, clients can pay taxes and duties electronically.

“We now have what we call participating banks and through the ghana.gov platform, all those participating banks can receive payments on behalf of the GRA. That means that you are not coming to GRA with your physical cheque, you can sit in the comfort of your home and make digital payments,” he said.

He said other direct payment methods such as mobile money can be used to transact business with the Ghana Revenue Authority.

Dr. Martin Yamborigya also disclosed that the Revenue Authority has a system in place where the public can file personal income tax returns and corporate income tax returns digitally without necessarily having to visit GRA offices.

Additionally, the GRA has since the beginning of April began the transition from the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to the Ghana Card PIN.

According to Georgina Zeng, the Head of the Taxpayer Identification Unit of the GRA, this ties in with government’s policy to have individuals in Ghana issued with one unique identifier for all transactions in the country.

Georgina Zeng, who was also speaking on Eye on Port said her outfit has been collaborating with the National Identification Authority for people legally living in Ghana countrywide to acquire their Ghana Cards.

“As part of the roll out, we are co-locating with the NIA in 14 of our offices across the country so that when an individual does not readily have a Ghana card, once you visit any of those offices you can be provided with a Ghana Card instantly,” she said.

She said the personal identification number (PIN) on the Ghana Card would now replace the TIN for individual tax transactions.

The Head of the Taxpayer Identification Unit at GRA revealed that those already with the TIN can have their data integrated with the PIN of the Ghana Card for future transactions.

“We have also made available a self-service portal on our website and individuals can visit and manually request for their TIN to be linked to their Ghana card and once this is done all your existing accounts will be linked to the Ghana card,” she explained.

Georgina Zeng also explained the arrangements for expatriates and travellers with respect to the transition from TIN to Ghana Card.

“Foreigners who have stayed in the country for over 90days can apply for non-citizen Ghana card. For those who haven’t lived up to the 90days, we treat them as exceptional cases and we continue to issue TIN to them,” she said.

She said this new integrating process is actively contributing to sanitizing the Tax Identification database of the Revenue Authority.

Contributing to the subject, the Head of Audit at the Large Taxpayer Office (LTO) of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Dr. Martin Yamborigya disclosed that those initially registered with the GRA would maintain their taxpayer offices.

“Those who do not have tax offices, we are going to use the information from the Ghana card to allocate them to the nearest tax office,” he said.

Dr. Martin Yamborigya said the Ghana Card initiative will enable GRA leverage on the data from the National Identification Authority to identify members of the public who should pay tax.

He explained that while importers and exporters by themselves may require these Personal Identification Numbers on the Ghana Cards for their individual transactions, for the purposes of transactions of their companies, the TIN is still needed.

“Replacement of the Ghana card as a TIN only affects individuals. As far as companies and corporate entities are concerned, they will continue to use the existing TIN as provided by GRA,” he explained.

The Head of Audit at the LTO said the GRA is embarking on extensive sensitization to bring the general public up to date with all new digital initiatives.

He said the Authority will help clients with all procedures as well as members of the public who are not technology savvy.

As part of continuous efforts to promote safe maritime operations in Ghana’s waters, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority has assisted the Ghana Petroleum Mooring System (GPMS) to conduct an oil spill response drill.

The drill, which is expected to be done periodically is to augment the state of readiness of GPMS to contain and salvage any oil spills that may occur offshore during the handling of petroleum cargo that arrive in the country.

The petroleum company after the procurement of some oil containment equipment such as the troilboom, oil skimmer and a recovery tank relied on the collaboration with the Port Authority to perfect its usage ahead of a possible real-life occurrence.

Captain Francis Kwesi Micah, the Harbour Master for the Port of Tema and one of the facilitators of the drill demonstration said new equipment have been acquired and therefore there is the need to prepare for its usage.

“This demonstration is very important so that in case there is a reality of oil spillage we can contain it with the wonderful gadgets,” he said.

The Health, Safety, Security and Environment Manager at the Ghana Petroleum Mooring System, Patrick Yeboah says his outfit is committed to leverage on these exercises that would boost their skills for such operations.

“If we have an oil spill, it will affect a lot of people and environmentally it takes a lot of time for oil to break down into harmless substances. Because of this we thought is wise to have this simulation,” he said.

Construction of the 1000km railway lines which would connect Ghana to Burkina Faso is expected to begin in January 2022, as procurement processes for a private investment partner have entered its final stage.

Three pre-qualified bidders for the Ghana-Burkina Faso Railway Interconnectivity Project have been issued Request for Proposals documents.

These bidders namely China No 10 Engineering Company, African Global Group and Frontline Advisors are expected to present their Technical and Financial proposals after 90 days for evaluation and an eventual selection following the recommendation of Transaction Advisors, TEAM Engineering of Italy and Vision Consult Limited of Ghana.

Speaking at a Bidders’ Conference held in Accra on Thursday, April 22, Minister for Railway Development, John-Peter Amewu revealed that the last quarter of 2021 has been agreed for the completion of negotiations for the commencement of physical construction works.

“The two countries further agreed that in the first quarter of 2022, we should be able to see actual construction of this project. We can confidently report to out two presidents that the project is on course,” he said.

The Minister of Transport, Urban Mobility and Road Safety of Burkina Faso, Vincent Dabilgou underpinned the important role this project will have in Africa’s new era of trade and expressed the enthusiasm of his country to see its success.

The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Railway Development Authority, Yaw Owusu said the rail project which is expected to take about 5 years to complete, will not only preserve Ghana’s roads, but accelerate movement from the Port of Tema to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso massively.

The Deputy Commissioner in Charge of Suspense Regimes at the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Emmanuel Ohene, has intimated that the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) being deployed as a trade facilitation tool at the ports of Ghana has added to the paperless system introduced at the ports in 2017, making clearance processes more seamless.

“In the ICUMS, you can now make payments electronically, you can obtain advise for examination and bills from the shipping lines all without recourse to submitting paper,” Mr. Ohene listed some benefits of the ICUMS.

Speaking on Eye on Port, Emmanuel Ohene who is also the Chairman of the ICUMS Implementation Committee, described the ICUMS as work in progress that is being fashioned to be a great national asset, that would lead to the realization of the vision of Ghana’s ports becoming paperless at its optimum level.

“The final intention is to ensure that we can all function in a synergy to ensure we can have fast clearance. Shipping lines are hooked to us, same as the banks and the freight forwarders. All the players in this industry are interwoven on this ICUMS,” he added.

He said not only has cargo clearance at the ports been made more convenient and faster, but government has also been able to mobilize revenue at a better rate than the previous vendors did, in spite of the fact that ICUMS was rolled out during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joining in the conversation, the President of the Association of Customs House Agents, Ghana, Yaw Kyei, attested to the efficacy of the ICUMS system, revealing that, in some cases the ambitious target of 4 hours’ clearance time, is realized at Ghana’s ports.

The President of ACHAG also praised efforts made by other stakeholders like shipping lines and terminal operators to augment efficiency in the clearance chain.

“You can sit in your house and effect payment of duties; you can release your goods from the shipping lines as well via mobile money. At the comfort of your home, you can also effect payment to MPS.”

He also touted the strides Ghana has made with respect to automation at the ports, citing historical accounts of arduous port processes which were saddled with manipulation by clearing agents.

Mr. Kyei said “In terms of speed and ease of doing business, the ICUMS system is definitely one of the best we have had so far. We hope to get a system even better than what we have now, moving forward.”

The President of the Association of Customs House Agents, Ghana, (ACHAG) Mr. Yaw Kyei, has called for risk management regimes at the ports of Ghana to be respected for improved trade facilitation.

Mr. Kyei who was speaking on the Eye on Port program, complained about national security operatives and some other institutions in the port clearance chain, accusing them of unduly delaying cargo clearance by impounding cargoes for what he termed “unjustifiable causes.”

“There could be some instances where they might have had some intelligence information that we may not be privy to. But in most cases, it may out of sentiment or subjective reasons,” he bemoaned.

Mr. Kyei said, “I think customs have to look at again. Because when something wrong has been done or goods are slated for examination in the red channel, we do not have any problem with it. We can subject ourselves to physical examination which takes more time. But if your own data has said go green, allow it to go, that’s our argument.”

He said these unwarranted interruptions by some operators within the clearance chain impede cargo clearance and contribute to port congestion.

The President of ACHAG warned that, if immediate steps are not taken to address this matter, not only will the trading public suffer unduly, but it will erode the gains made in terms of investments in port efficiency and trade facilitation in Ghana.

Mr. Yaw Kyei, who is the CEO of Integral Freight Services, also lamented some bottlenecks created by the operations of banks, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority and other institutions in the clearance chain.

“If you go to DVLA, they are asking for a document well stamped before they can register for you. It is not only DVLA but even the banks. They ask for documents with customs stamp on it,” he revealed.

The seasoned freight forwarder also urged institutions working at the port to ensure that officers deployed on various assignments in the clearance chain, do not indulge in undisciplined acts that will delay clearance and burden importers.

Speaking on same program, a Deputy Commissioner in Charge of Suspense Regimes at the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Mr. Emmanuel Ohene, revealed that the second phase of the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) will see many new modules introduced which includes a performance marker to ensure that targets set for all operators in the clearance system are met.

“The ICUMS is introducing what we call the performance management module which would be having KPIs and monitor activities of officers everywhere nationwide. Officers who for no valid reason create delay in assigned responsibilities will be sanctioned,” he disclosed.

Mr. Ohene, who is also the Chairman of the ICUMS Implementation Committee assured that the ICUMS team has been working assiduously to ensure that the activities of all such institutions within the clearance chain as earlier mentioned by the President of ACHAG are further streamlined for improved efficiency.

About inspections being conducted on goods slated for green channel, he admitted to these complaints.

He explained that “sometimes national security stakeholders may have some information we are not privy to.”

The Deputy Commissioner in charge of Suspense Regimes at Customs assured the trading public that issues of undue delays by some institutions in the clearance chain will be taken up with higher authority for immediate resolution.