Nigeria, Ghana shippers collaborate to promote trade

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) is collaborating with the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA) to further protect shippers and promote trade in Africa.

Mr Hassan Bello, the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of NSC told newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja that the collaboration would enable them to do more for the region.

He also said the collaboration would ensure efficiency in service delivery and enable both countries to export their goods and earn foreign exchange without hindrances.

“The most important thing is that we have to unite the consumers of shipping services either by advocacy or regulation. We must ensure that there is equilibrium, there is a balance, we must ensure there is a level playing field.

“Our economies must not be strangulated; we have to wean ourselves from the mono economy of the oil business and look at an alternative or an option.

“And there is no more promising alternative than the shipping or Transport industry and that is why the shippers’ council always played roles at every stage of the economic revolution of not only Africa but the World,” Bello said.

The NSC boss said it was important for the shippers’ regulators to ensure the shippers made profit to enable them to employ the youths.

He said: ”employment more than infrastructure is key to the growth of our various economies.”

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of GSA, Benonita Bismarck, assured the NSC of the authority’s readiness to collaborate with Nigeria.

Bismarck noted that the Africa Shippers’ Council had a role to protect Africa trade and Ghana will work with Nigeria to achieve that.

“In order to remain relevant,  we have to be proactive and ensure that whatever needs to be done to ensure that competition is seen but there is no arbitrariness, we have to do it.

“We need to work together to see where we can support one another to be able to stand tall,’’ she said.

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The GSA boss said since the establishment of GSA in 1974, it had become necessary to change the framework to reflect the current realities.

She added that Ghana would learn from the ways NSC reshaped its laws to reflect current realities.