GCNet seeks input on new export monitoring software
A forum to seek the inputs of exporters and stakeholders on the new export monitoring software to be introduced in July this year has been held in Accra.
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The forum was to help collate views to fill in gaps that may be identified during the review process ahead of the July 1 go-live date for implementation of the software.
The export monitoring software which will ensure the automation of exports documentation and proceeds repatriation procedures was sponsored by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and designed and developed by the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) in collaboration with IT staff from the central bank.
Speaking at the forum, the first deputy governor of BoG, Mr Millison Narh, said per its mandate, the central bank had the responsibility to effectively monitor export activities in Ghana to ensure that export proceeds were repatriated into the country.
“In this age of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Bank of Ghana cannot continue the utilisation of manual systems of monitoring export trade in Ghana,” he said.
The new system, he said, would, therefore, help improve the accounting of all proceeds of exports from the country.
Technical committee
Mr Narh explained that the sharp depreciation of the Ghana Cedi last year was a wake-up call that appeared to confirm the suspicion of many industry players that a chunk of the export proceeds, particularly gold, were not being repatriated into Ghana.
Subsequently, to address the concerns, the BOG, he said, in June 2015 constituted a technical committee on gold export and the repatriation of proceeds.
“The committee’s report, which included both short and long-term measures, recommended that GCNet and IT personnel from stakeholder institutions comprising Bank of Ghana (BOG), Minerals Commission(MC), and Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA) design, develop and implement an IT infrastructure to facilitate online processing of gold export documentation for the small-scale mining industry to effectively monitor gold exports from Ghana and to ensure that proceeds from gold exports are fully repatriated to Ghana,” he said.
He said even though the mandate and terms of reference were limited to small-scale Licensed Gold Exporters (LGE’s), it was believed that the system that had been designed and developed would apply to all exporters (traditional and non-traditional).
He added that as part of the new export monitoring procedures following the committee’s report, the central bank issued out a “Notice to Banks and the General Public” dated May 30, 2016 on “Amendments to Requirements for surrender and Repatriation of Export Receipts to take effect from July 1, 2016.
“The development automation process is to give meaning and effect to the notice. The meeting is thus to receive stakeholders buy-in so as to get hooked onto the platform before the July 1, 2016 deadline,” he said.