Эксперт: развитие железной дороги сократит время выгрузки грузов в Гане с 9 дней до 48 часов

An expert in logistics and transport has said that an efficient railway system connecting Ghana’s ports to inland terminals can significantly reduce cargo evacuation time and ease congestion on the country’s roads. Mr Ignatius Kwasi Awortwe, a Senior Member of the Railway Technical Working Group of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), said the current overreliance on trucks for cargo evacuation was contributing to congestion, road deterioration, accidents and high logistics costs. Mr Awortwe, speaking at a media forum powered by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), said the situation could undermine Ghana’s ambition of becoming a major logistics hub and preferred transit corridor for landlocked countries in the sub-region. He stated, for example, that a vessel carrying about 60,000 tonnes of clinker could currently take not less than nine days to complete evacuation, but an efficient railway system could reduce the period to about 48 hours. “With rail, I promise you, within 48 hours, the vessel should be empty,” he said. He said the prolonged evacuation of cargo increased pressure on port operations and roads while adding to the cost of doing business. He said the railway was an efficient means of transporting large volumes of cargo at a relatively lower cost and should therefore be treated as a critical component of Ghana’s logistics value chain. According to him, efficient rail connectivity would also reduce the burden on government to continually spend on road maintenance because of the heavy trucks transporting bulk cargo. He said the development of the railway system should be accompanied by investment in inland terminals, improved roads and a clear transport policy to ensure that different modes of transport complemented one another. Mr Awortwe said Ghana needed to move away from a system in which cargo arriving at the ports was transferred almost entirely to trucks and instead develop an integrated system in which rail handled long-distance movement, with trucks undertaking first- and last-mile deliveries. He said such an arrangement would improve cargo evacuation, reduce congestion, and strengthen the country’s position as a regional logistics hub.