Ghana Link Network Services (Ghana Link), the technical operator of trade facilitation tool, the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS), picked two awards at the fourth edition of the Ghana Business Awards (GBA) held on Friday, October 29, 2021, demonstrating its leadership position in the trade facilitation space.
The awards comprise the Indigenous Company of the Year Award, which went to the Ghana Link Network Services Limited and the Excellence in Business Award, which went to the Executive Chairman of Ghana Link Network Services, Nick Danso Adjei, as a special recognition of his immense contribution to the nation’s economic development through the operation of numerous businesses, particularly the deployment of the ICUMS which has helped government increase revenue mobilisation from its land, air and sea borders.
The ICUMS currently connects over 8,000 players in the trade facilitation ecosystem in a day, including freight forwarders, shippers, courier companies, over all ministries, departments and agencies, regulatory bodies like the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, the Ghana Standards Authority, oil marketing companies, among others.
The ICUMS has been touted by freight forwarders, importers and exporters, port clearing agents and the trading community at large as the best trade facilitation tool which has come to reduce the then long workflow process that existed prior to its roll-out and ease of doing business at the ports in particular.
It has also come to ramp up government’s revenue generated from the country’s points of entry – land, air and sea borders – especially at the seaports even at the time that cargo volumes reduced due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Commenting on the award, Mr Nick Danso Adjei, who is the Executive Chairman of Ghana Link Network Services Limited, said the company has worked extremely hard towards the deployment and successful implementation of the ICUMS, and further thanked the management and staff of Ghana for their contribution and effort to see to the implementation of the ICUMS.
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“I also want to thank the government for believing in the capability of our company Ghana Link, not forgetting the Trade and Finance Ministry’s, the Ghana Revenue Authority – Customs Division, Ghana Port and Harbours Authority, Meridian Port Services (MPS), freight forwarding community and all other stakeholders for supporting Ghana Link in its efforts to get the ICUMS implemented,” Mr. Danso Adjei said.
Comparing Ghana to Nigeria, he pointed out that despite the West African country promising to deploy a National Single Window (NSW) system which is similar to the ICUMS at its seaports last year to help them also increase revenue and smoothen their clearing processes like Ghana has done, for some reason they have failed to do so, with the dream remaining on the drawing board and as such the country is making some N1.08 trillion losses (GH₵15.9 billion) yearly.
“We are continually developing modules that will improve the system and bring efficiency into our operational space as a company while we continue to play a critical role collaborating with the Ministry of Trade & Industry and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to continuously deploy new services built on a culture of excellence in service delivery, innovation, integrity and professionalism,” Mr Danso Adjei noted.
