The Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) in collaboration the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, the Ministry of Transport, and has held a media workshop to prepare journalists for the signing ceremony of the United Nations Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents (NCD), scheduled for Monday, 26 October 2026, in Accra.
The workshop, held on Thursday, 15th October 2026, at the Ghana Shippers’ House in Accra, brought together journalists and representatives of media houses to deepen their understanding of the Convention, its significance to international trade and its potential to transform cargo documentation, facilitate cross-border commerce and improve the efficiency of global supply chains.
The signing ceremony, dubbed the Accra Convention, is being organised through a collaboration involving Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, the Ministry of Transport, the Attorney Generals Department and GSA.
The Convention, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 15th December 2025, establishes a harmonisedlegal framework for the issuance and use of negotiable cargo documents across road, rail, air and sea transport. It also provides for the use of these documents in electronic form, offering a legal basis for modernising trade documentation in an increasingly digital global economy.
Despite advances in digital trade solutions, paper-based cargo documents remain widely used in international commerce. Their continued reliance could contribute to administrative delay,increase transaction costs, expose trade transactions to fraud and complicate cargo movement across jurisdictions. The Convention is expected to help address these challenges by facilitating the use of electronic negotiable cargo documents and supporting more efficient trade transactions and access to trade finance.
Speaking at the workshop, the Chief Executive Officer of GSA, Prof. Ransford Gyampo, described the Convention as an important development for international trade, highlighting its potential to reduce documentation-related delay, improve transaction efficiency, facilitate access to trade finance and support the development of integrated digital supply chains.
“The Convention is therefore not simply about replacing paper with electronic records. It is about building the legal certainty and confidence necessary for businesses and institutions to conduct trade in an increasingly digital environment,” he stated.
Prof. Gyampo noted that Ghana’s hosting of the signing ceremony presented an opportunity to demonstrate the country’s commitment to modernising trade documentation, strengthening international trade connectivity and improving the efficiency of its shipping and logistics sector.
He further explained that the Convention aligned with Ghana’s ambition to establish itself as a preferred trade and logistics hub in West Africa while advancing the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
According to him, a harmonised legal framework for electronic negotiable cargo documents could help address documentary barriers associated with cross-border trade in Africa, where transactions often involve multiple jurisdictions, transport operators and border procedures. For Ghanaian importers and exporters, the shift towards electronic documents could reduce administrative burdens, facilitate faster transactions, improve access to trade financing and enhance predictability in international commerce.
The representative of the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Madam Stella Ansah, said the Accra Convention offered an opportunity to simplify trade documentation, improve the efficiency of cross-border transactions and strengthen the competitiveness of Ghanaian businesses in regional and international markets.
As part of the technical session, GSA’s Principal Freight and Logistics Officer, Rhodalyn Djanitey, took participants through the key provisions of the Convention, including the conditions governing its entry into force. She explained that the Convention would become effective 180 days after the deposit of the tenth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, after which its provisions would become legally binding on the states for which it was in force.
The presentation was followed by questions and discussions, during which journalists sought clarification on various aspects of the Convention and its implications for Ghana’s trading environment.
Providing further clarification, the Head of Freight and Logistics at GSA, Fred Asiedu-Dartey, emphasised that the signing ceremony should serve as a starting point for broader national discussions on the legal, institutional, technological and commercial arrangements required to realise the Convention’s potential benefits.
He reaffirmed GSA’s commitment to working with the relevant ministries, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), industry stakeholders and international partners to deepen public awareness and support the processes necessary for the effective adoption and implementation of the Convention.
The media workshop forms part of preparations to build stakeholder understanding of the Convention ahead of the Accra signing ceremony. By equipping journalists with a clearer understanding of its provisions and implications, GSA seeks to support informed public discourse on the opportunities and requirements associated with modernising trade documentation.
The signing ceremony on Monday, 26th October 2026, is expected to mark an important milestone in Ghana’s engagement with international effort to modernise cargo documentation and promote a more efficient, secure and digitally enabled global trading system. It also presents an opportunity to advance national discussions on the reforms and institutional readiness needed to translate the Convention’s objectives into practical benefits for Ghanaian businesses and the wider trading community.
