The planned rollout of Ghana’s Smart Port Note (SPN) has met strong resistance from the trading community, with industry groups warning that the policy could add hundreds of millions of euros to the cost of doing business and ultimately drive up consumer prices.
The Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) announced in December that the SPN is scheduled to take effect on February 1, 2026. However, the Coalition of Concerned Exporters, Importers and Traders has raised concerns about the policy, arguing that the Authority has not adequately justified its introduction or clearly explained how it will be implemented.
In a statement issued on Thursday, January 15, 2026, the Coalition said its analysis indicates that the SPN could cost Ghanaian shippers and ultimately consumers between €187.2 million and €382.8 million annually. The estimates are based on 2024 port traffic of over 1.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and fee structures proposed during a previous, unsuccessful attempt to roll out the policy.
The Coalition noted that the figures account only for full container load traffic, warning that the total economic impact could be considerably higher once other cargo categories are included.
It further argued that the projected revenue from the SPN would amount to a substantial transfer of wealth to the policy’s service provider, Inter-Ocean Maritime and Logistics Institute, and its Belgium-based technical partner, Antaser Afrique.
The group also criticised the GSA for what it described as inadequate stakeholder engagement, stating that several organisations cited by the Authority as having been consulted have publicly distanced themselves from the policy. Among them is the Association of Customs House Agents of Ghana.
Additionally, the Ship Owners and Agents Association of Ghana has indicated that it was not consulted, despite the central role shipping lines are expected to play in the implementation of the SPN.
“This situation points to the absence of adequate stakeholder consultation, which is a basic requirement of sound policy formulation,” the Coalition said, raising concerns about the policy’s legal basis, operational framework, and economic justification.
The Coalition warned that without a clear cost-benefit analysis or evidence that the SPN adds value beyond existing trade facilitation systems, the policy risks increasing bureaucracy, raising transaction costs, and undermining Ghana’s competitiveness. It cautioned that higher logistics costs are likely to be passed on to consumers through increased prices.
The group has formally called on the Ghana Shippers’ Authority to publish a comprehensive position paper detailing the rationale for the SPN, its implementation model, fee structure, and how it integrates into Ghana’s current trade system. Until such clarifications are provided, it has asked that the rollout of the policy be suspended.
The Smart Port Note (SPN) is designed to improve regulatory compliance, strengthen cargo monitoring, and enhance the reliability of logistics data within Ghana’s ports.
