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Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso
Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso

Consult widely on CTN - Chamber of Commerece

The President of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso I, has blamed the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for what he described as the lack of adequate stakeholder consultation before the implementation of the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) which has led to agitation by stakeholders.

He said the module, which was implemented with minimal consultation, was likely to defeat the purpose for implementation to help track imports and reduce losses at the ports.

“We thought stakeholders could have been engaged further in order to bring everyone on board. We also thought that agencies championing the CTN could have pushed the implementation date to at least the end of the year,” Nana Dankawoso said at a press briefing in Accra last Tuesday.

He said the chamber appreciated the efforts being undertaken by the GRA to modernise its operations to enhance trade facilitate in line with best international practice.

Nana Dankawoso said the research conducted by the chamber at the ports revealed that the cost of doing business was high and any additional cost would undermine the country’s competiveness.

He said additional costs to the existing charges would be passed on to consumers which would impact the cost of living.

“Gains have been made after persuading Burkina Faso and other surrounding countries to direct traffic through Ghana and we need to consolidate those gains.

“As a matter of urgency, the chamber calls on the government to further engage all relevant stakeholders to address the challenges identified with the CTN and allay the fears and concerns of these stakeholders,” he added.

Stop the panic withdrawal

Meanwhile the GNCCI president has appealed to customers of financial institutions to cease panic withdrawals that have hit the bank in recent times.

He said the withdrawals were rather affecting the financial institutions since they could not only survive on payment of funds.

“The chamber wishes to assure the private sector that it is engaging the government, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and other relevant stakeholders to ensure a safe, sound, supportive and stable financial sector.

“This will essentially provide affordable long-term credit to enable businesses grow and create jobs. Let us all support the financial sector to ensure a prosperous and resilient economy,” he added.

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