The Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) has commended the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) for the ongoing expansion works and reforms at the country’s ports, as the development will enhance commercial trade within the ECOWAS sub-region.
NPA’s General Manager in charge of Corporate and Strategic Planning Femi Jegede, who is leading a team of officials on a tour of the Tema Port, said the team was impressed with improvements at the Tema Port and that GPHA’s extensive automation of the port’s processes including the deployment of technology in cargo handling was exemplary.
“We are impressed with the way Ghana’s port authorities have employed numerous electronic interventions -- electronic surveillance system and data interchange -- as well as deployment of the technology in cargo handling and general security to improve operations.
“Even though we [NPA] have commenced an automation programme, GPHA is far-advanced on this agenda; we hope to replicate some of these interventions to improve port efficiency in Nigeria’s ports,†he said.
Mr. Jegede is leading a team of officials from the NPA on a familiarisation visit to the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority to learn from the Ghanaian experience and to gain first-hand knowledge of how things are done in Ghana, and also explore business opportunities for the benefit of the two countries.
He said the visit was on recommendation from the Singapore Port Authority when a team from NPA visited the Port of Singapore.
The Head of Marketing and Public Relations at the Port of Tema, Paul Asare Ansah who took the delegation through port operations in the country, said GPHA was delighted to receive their Nigerian counterparts as it affirms Ghana’s ports as the ports of choice in the West African sub-region.
“The Nigerian Ports Authority has been sending delegations to learn from us [GPHA]. We started the ports reform in 2000 and they [NPA] are also in the process of undertaking the reforms, and this forms part of a knowledge-sharing agenda to ensure port productivity,†he said.
By Patrick Paintsil | B&FT Online | Ghana
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