The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has praised the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS), for facilitating trade and helping government increase its revenue generation at the country’s ports.
The President made these remarks during the State of Nation Address in Parliament on Wednesday March 30, 2022.
He said, “ICUMS when it was introduced, provoked a lot of controversy. At the moment, we are seeing the benefits. Indeed, Customs revenue, prior to the implementation of ICUMS, for the period June 2019 to May 2020, stood at GH¢11.25 billion. Between June 2020, the start of ICUMS, and May 2021, teething challenges, ill-considered propaganda, and the impact of COVID-19 on global trade notwithstanding, customs revenue has increased by 27.6% to GH¢14.36 billion. Indeed, customs revenue for 2021 stood at GH¢16.08 billion, as opposed to GH¢12.03 billion in 2019 when ICUMS had not been implemented.”
Nana Addo emphasized Ghana’s positioning for the African Continental Free Trade.
“We have learnt the very hard way the first step to prosperity in Africa is for our countries to trade among each other. It is the reason we campaigned for and supported and proudly host the continental office of the AfCFTA. Trading under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) officially commenced on 1st January 2021, and Ghana was the first country in Africa to establish Customs Procedure Codes to facilitate trading under the AfCFTA. We have established a National AfCFTA Coordination Office to facilitate activities. We have high hopes that the AfCFTA office, which we proudly host, will bring urgency to growing trade among the African states,” he articulated.
The president, nonetheless, lamented the direct effect of the Russia-Ukraine war on certain import and export commodities in Ghana.
He revealed that “thirty percent (30%) of our wheat flour and fertilizer imports come from Russia. Sixty percent (60%) of iron rods and other metal sheets are imported from Ukraine, and almost twenty percent (20%) of Ghana’s manganese is shipped to Ukraine. The bombs might be dropping on cities half a world away, but they are hitting our pockets here in Ghana.”
He said that, coupled with the economic hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic threatened the economic sustainability of many nations. However, Ghana has been resilient.
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