Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers Authority, Professor Ransford Gyampo, has praised the Bank of Ghana (BoG) for issuing a new directive that compels shipping lines and related service providers to publish their daily foreign exchange (forex) rates used for billing.
The directive, which took effect on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, requires all shipping companies, terminal operators, freight forwarders, and other port service providers to display the exchange rates they use—either on their official websites or at their operational premises. They must also disclose the applicable rate to customers prior to invoicing.
The measure forms part of new BoG guidelines aimed at enhancing transparency and consistency in the application of exchange rates within the shipping industry.
Under the new rules, every invoice must clearly state the billing currency, the exchange rate applied, the date of the rate’s application, and the final payable amount in either Ghana cedis (GHS) or U.S. dollars (USD).
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Point of View with Bernard Avle, Prof. Gyampo said the directive followed a petition and internal research by the Ghana Shippers Authority, which exposed arbitrary forex practices by some shipping lines.
He criticised the use of inflated exchange rates by certain firms, often derived from commercial banks, saying the practice significantly increased shipping costs and undermined national efforts—led by President John Dramani Mahama—to stabilise the Ghanaian cedi.
“We [stakeholders] agreed that, given what had happened, BoG had to issue a policy directive to explain or direct what must be done and what must not be done. And after that decision was made, I had to conduct numerous follow-ups with the BoG.
“Through constant follow-ups, [on] July 22, BoG issued a policy directive, and I’m told a lot of the shippers are excited and happy about it,” he stated.
Prof. Gyampo reaffirmed the Ghana Shippers Authority’s commitment to promoting fairness and transparency in port charges and lauded the BoG’s timely response to shippers’ concerns.
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