The single window project in Ghana

 The single window project in Ghana was started in 2002 as part of reforms to make trade easier and port operations better. It was part of the transition from transshipment predestination inspection to destination inspection, in which importer authorities were responsible for examining, valuing, and imposing duties on consignments. The general explanation, nonetheless, was to guarantee that port tasks were productive and escape clauses stopped to guarantee the greatest income assembly.

As a result, the Ghana Community Network Services (GCNet) was established as part of a public-private partnership (PPP) in order to facilitate the electronic clearing of goods and consignments at the country's ports by providing information technology support for the government through the then-Customs, Excise, and Preventive Service (CEPS).

Since its inception in 2004, the GCNet has digitized customs data (the Customs Management Information System) and developed a feeder platform (TradeNet) that enables the logistics industry to electronically exchange trade-related documentation with all agencies involved in trade-related processes. The TradeNet empowers all grant-giving government organizations to give their licenses electronically and in this way cut the most common way of being genuinely present to apply for licenses physically.

This framework came to supplant the mayhem in the Long Room at the Tema Port where around 14 cycles must be finished. In 2015, West Blue Consulting arrived, taking over the duties of destination inspection firms that provided Customs with valuation reports. Even though the system has been around for a long time, the Nana Akufo-Addo government is responsible for reviving the drive to move the process to paperless. The system, backed by Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, went live on September 1, 2017, promising to cut clearing time down to four hours, provided that all documents are genuine and intact.

Speaking at the International Single Window Conference in Accra on Tuesday, the Vice President said that the government didn't have to spend any money to implement the paperless system because of the solid foundation laid by GCNet, West Blue Consulting, and other stakeholders. The Everyday Realistic has, notwithstanding, discovered that the four-hour limit for clearing transfers is as yet a test to meet because of a few elements, including the propensity among officials to falsely make an impasse, getting human mediation on which they will underwrite and enjoy some misbehavior.

Then again, a few merchants and clearing specialists keep on offering counterfeit records with misrepresented values intended to diminish their duty liabilities at the port. This kind of behavior only makes it harder for the new system, which is being used in a lot of countries, including many in Africa, to spread freely. We encourage the Ghana Income Authority, the GPHA, and all partners to guarantee severe consistency with the framework to guarantee its adequacy, without leaving space for remiss or disappointment.

Indeed, we can stay away from the Dutch sickness

Before the disclosure of oil in business amounts in 2007, the economy was secured on farming and assembling for its net product. The oil discovery was anticipated to boost economic growth and prosperity in the nation. However, experts have advised economic managers to adopt a development model that will stop the Dutch disease from spreading throughout the nation.

The term "Dutch disease," which also goes by the name "resource curse," was first used in 1977 to describe the rapid decline in the Dutch economy that occurred after natural gas reserves were discovered there in 1959. Because of another reliance on the flammable gas asset, The Netherlands experienced destroying financial development, with homegrown businesses and markets being disregarded for the commodity of petroleum gas, as well as an over-valuation of the Dutch money.

Ghana was thought to be immune to the disease that had prevented Nigeria, Venezuela, and Angola from reaping the full benefits of their oil discovery. Tragically, it appears to be the nation has not gotten away from the Dutch illness. Food production has decreased as farmlands in communities near oil fields have been taken over. The agricultural sector's expansion will suffer as a result of the decrease in food production. Since oil was discovered, the sector's growth has been consistently declining.

The sector's performance in 2016 was 0.04 percent, down from 6.2% in 2009. Despite the fact that other subsectors like livestock and fishing saw growth, the government attributed the sector's consistent decline to negative growth in the crops subsector. The truth was that the majority of the money spent by the government on agriculture was used to pay for agricultural mechanization service centers and a fertilizer subsidy to boost production.

However, the President's most sincere assurance that he will lead the nation to economic prosperity by investing in agriculture and preventing Dutch disease is heartwarming. In point of fact, the government has initiated an ambitious plan to revitalize the agricultural industry. The Planting for Food and Occupations program is an area of strength for any of the public authority's obligations to the area.

It is anticipated that the program will create jobs for young people, modernize agriculture, increase production, achieve food security, and increase the nation's level of self-sufficiency. In fact, the Daily Graphic commends the government for taking the bold step of revitalizing the agricultural sector and creating employment opportunities for the plethora of youth without jobs. The paper, nonetheless, desires the public authority to illuminate other strategy estimates past the expressed commitment of keeping away from the Dutch sickness.

We do not believe that focusing more on the agricultural sector necessitates ignoring other parts of the economy. We can confidently assert that we are on the path to avoiding the Dutch disease only when a comprehensive policy is implemented toward all sectors, with agriculture serving as the foundation. Different nations have done it effectively and we can improve assuming we invest in the reason.