The Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) is once again taking decisive action to ensure smoother and more efficient cross-border trade, particularly for women traders, by introducing innovative measures to address Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs). These measures are designed to tackle some persistent challenges along the Abidjan-Lagos corridor, which include extortion and harassment by border officials, a phenomenon which often goes unreported and unresolved.
In response to these issues, the GSA in collaboration with Trade Mark Africa is pioneering an initiative to ensure that NTB reports are received and resolved in real time. Last week, 25 – 27 March 2025, the GSA, in collaboration with Trade Mark Africa, facilitated a three-day consultative meeting at the Aflao and Akanu borders. The meeting brought together border officials and women cross-border traders to discuss and validate the new measures that will bring much-needed reforms to the NTB reporting process.
A key highlight of the initiative is the integration of the complaint mechanisms of the National Crossborder Women Traders Association (NCBWTA) into the official border complaint structures within the framework of the GSA’s ShippersApp thereby transforming it into the NTB Reporting and Resolution Platform. In tandem with this development, the GSA is establishing a 24-hour multi-agency back office dedicated to resolving NTB complaints in real time. This landmark move is expected to empower women traders to easily report incidents of extortion and harassment, ensuring that their concerns are heard and acted upon swiftly. The integration is part of the GSA’s ongoing commitment to improving the overall trade experience for informal cross-border traders and ensuring that their voices are a central part of the process.
In a further effort to streamline the resolution process, the proposed NTB reporting and resolution platform will be integrated with regional and continental NTB platforms, creating a more robust monitoring tool for the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC). This integration will enhance the transparency and accountability of the NTB resolution process, providing a more comprehensive view of the challenges faced by traders across the region.
TradeMark Africa has expressed its support for the initiatives, recognizing the positive impact they will have on the broader trade landscape in Ghana and West Africa, and looks forward to working alongside the GSA to implement these reforms under its Ghana Country Programme (GCP).
