Ghana and Niger have signed a new trade agreement to streamline their shared transit corridor, tackling long-standing delays, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and high trade costs.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed in Accra, focuses on harmonizing customs procedures, enhancing cargo tracking, and reducing extortion and excessive checkpoints that have hindered cross-border trade.
For Ghana, the deal strengthens its position as a key logistics hub for landlocked neighbors such as Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, while Niger aims to cut transport costs and improve corridor efficiency.
The agreement establishes a technical committee to oversee implementation, resolve disputes, and ensure accountability. It also introduces new registration requirements under Ghana’s Shippers’ Authority Act, 2024, to enhance transparency and data sharing with Niger’s Shippers’ Council.
Ghana’s Boankra Integrated Logistics Terminal—currently under construction—is expected to further reduce transport costs by up to 48% once operational, supporting the corridor’s competitiveness.
Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to enforcing ECOWAS axle load regulations and adopting digital trade facilitation tools. The MoU expands on previous agreements signed in 2000, 2007, and 2018, marking a renewed effort to modernize trade logistics and strengthen regional integration.
Potential Benefits to African Trade:
The new Ghana–Niger trade agreement offers significant benefits for African trade by reducing transit costs and delays through harmonized customs procedures and fewer checkpoints. It strengthens corridor competitiveness, positioning Ghana as a key logistics gateway for landlocked Sahelian countries such as Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Enhanced transparency measures—such as a unified shipper registration system and shared cargo-tracking database—will improve accountability, reduce fraud, and streamline coordination between trade authorities.
The pact also advances regional integration through infrastructure development and policy alignment. The Boankra Integrated Logistics Terminal will serve as a major logistics hub, cutting transport costs and improving connectivity, while enforcement of ECOWAS axle load regulations will standardize operations and enhance compliance. By integrating digital trade facilitation tools and aligning with the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the agreement modernizes cross-border logistics and strengthens Africa’s collective trade capacity.