On 9^th May 2023, members of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Trade Facilitation Team called on the Management of Meridian Port Services Ltd (MPS).

The visit was to among other things provide further insight into MPS’ role as a regional trade facilitation hub.

The Trade Facilitation Team, led by a Senior Advisor on Customs, Madam Demitta Gyang was received by the Chief Executive Officer of MPS, Mr. Mohamed Samara who shared with the Team, MPS’ investment into the Tema Port. He outlined key characteristics that makes the Port of Tema stand out as the Port of choice for the sub-region.

“From the onset, MPS shareholders have committed to investing into the Port facility to upgrade it into a world class container terminal and a major game player in trade. As we are all aware, trade of any nature cannot happen without the requisite infrastructure, MPS therefore took a giant leap into the future to construct a new entrance channel and harbour basin which is one of the deepest that we have in Africa with depth of 18 meters allowing for vessels with 16 meters draft to dock.  For this terminal, the worlds’ biggest vessels will be able to enter as such we are secured for the coming years. “Adding that MPS success is hinged on productivity and predictability of its service provision.

Mr. Samara emphasised that along with the infrastructure, the responsible institutions must ensure the creation of viable economic zone in the various African countries.

Our vision summarised in our tagline “We connect, you thrive”, is to see the economy of Africa unlocked to allow it trade with other countries on the continent. MPS is driving connectivity and creating a hub such as what is found in Malaysia and Morocco. The impact of such connectivity is not only on the port itself but the trade zones that will emerge behind the port and I believe AfCFTA has a key role to play to ensure this is realised. There is a huge market that is waiting to be served and we encourage investors to also take advantage of the benefits and discounts that AfCFTA provides.”  

Madam Gyang, congratulated MPS for actions taken to promote the ease of doing business. “We are happy to see such infrastructure established, we at AfCFTA are looking at ways to increase the efficiency of the Port and ensure trade barriers are removed. We have planned visits to the Lomé Port to inspect their infrastructure and we assure you that we will continue to strengthen engagements with stakeholders like MPS to see to see to the fulfilment of AfCFTA objectives.“

The team followed the boardroom discussions with a tour of the MPS Facility to see how the operational processes are undertaken.

BACKGROUND

The Assembly of the African Union (AU) has recognised 2023 as the year of accelerated implementation of the AfCFTA.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aims to create a single market for intra-regional trade in goods and services, representing more than 1.26 billion people, and a GDP of $2.14 trillion. The Agreement contains trade facilitation measures, tailor-made to the African context and aimed to make import, export, and transit procedures more efficient.

It has been identified that there is the need to prioritise trade- related infrastructure along with implementation of the AfCFTA for the continent to achieve optimal benefits from the Single Continental Market agreement.

Port Infrastructure like MPS Terminal 3 therefore plays a critical role in reducing trade costs and enhancing competitiveness which promotes intra-regional trade.