French maritime investors eye Ghana’s ports
A business delegation from French company HAROPA, has met Ghanaian maritime companies in order to present transport and logistics solution offers, available to and from the Seine gateway for efficient service delivery.
The decision for HAROPA, an alliance of ports of Le Havre, Rouen and Paris to invest in Ghana, is based on the country’s ownership of huge assets, political stability, its well-developed legal framework and the good level of infrastructure, company officials said.
The delegation presented varied solutions aimed at ensuring efficiency in Ghanaian ports in terms of conventional transport, containers, roll-on/roll-off and break-bulk.
The meeting drew in ship-owners, shipping agents, shippers, traders and freight forwarders – a move seen as a step to reinforce HAROPA’s African partnerships and make available their world class services on the river Seine corridor.
Mr Philippe Dehays, President of Rouen Port Employers’ Association described Accra as one of the most dynamic cities in Africa, a destination for HAROPA which ought not to be missed.
He said the visit would help afford the opportunity to foster and develop a strong relation between the port communities in Ghana and France to provide effective and efficient services to clients.
He also highlighted the need for the port complex to develop relationships with Anglophone countries, and principally Ghana, “a country with a lot of assets, among which are political stability, a developed legal framework and a good level of infrastructure.”
He said ports were at the centre of African economies, with more than 90 per cent of the trade on the continent being carried out by sea, and expressed the company’s desire to become a solid partner with their Ghanaian counterparts to optimize bilateral transport costs and to address the challenges in the sector.
The Ambassador of France to Ghana, Mr François Pujolas, said environment and sustainable development are key stakes for all countries in the world.
He noted the need to highlight excellence, proven by HAROPA Port Complex, which was elected as the best green port in the world in June 2015, by stakeholders of the supply chain in the Asia-Pacific zone.
He said over the past years the interest of French companies to do business in Ghana has been growing steadily due to high-level exchanges which have given priority to strengthening economic ties between the two countries.
HAROPA, a joint venture between the ports of Le Havre, Rouen and Paris, is the 5th largest port complex in Northern Europe.
It is connected to every continent – 600 ports worldwide – owing to a first-rate international shipping offer, and prides itself in giving best transit times, maritime offer and fast cocoa road to Europe.
Source: GNA