The President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has warned that congestion and delays at the Tema Port are costing the Ghanaian economy hundreds of millions of dollars annually and crippling key industries.
In the second part of his assessment titled ‘The Hidden Cost of a Broken Port: Drugs, Delays, and Economic Damage’, Cudjoe said evidence gathered from stakeholders at the Tema Port points to a deepening crisis.
According to him, one company alone is paying $2.8 million per month in demurrage charges. “Demurrage is costing one company in Tema $2.8 million per month, and there are 18 of such companies in that particular industry.
Assuming that each pays $2.0m per month, this will be $36m per month or $432m per annum, more than one IMF tranche under our last ECF, paid to ship owners,” he said.
He noted that this is money Ghana loses from port congestion and delays every year, adding that industry players have been allowed to pass on the cost.
“The irony is that instead of taking a strategic action to either expand the Tema port or better still build a new port away from the Tema Port or invite private sector participation to modernise and expand the Takoradi Port, the industry has been asking to be permitted to raise their prices to cover their mounting demurrage costs. And they have done that,” he stated.
On the cement industry, Cudjoe said waiting times have deteriorated sharply this year. “The cement industry is currently experiencing unprecedented vessel waiting times. Waiting periods which were approximately 7 days in January 2026 have increased to between 30 and 40+ days, averaging about 40 days in August 2026,” he said.
He said the situation has created a serious bottleneck in the supply of clinker, the principal raw material for local cement manufacturers, as only three main berths are currently functional for clinker discharge.
“COCMAG is particularly concerned that cement manufacturers have been unable to access Berths 10 and 11, which were previously used for clinker discharge,” he said, adding that “already there are rumours of rent seeking behaviour, more like preferential treatment for some.”
Cudjoe also cited the case of a contractor whose seven large excavators have been stuck at the port for three months due to delays and what he described as quadrupled bureaucracy.
He further recounted the experience of a freight forwarder whose container has been at the port since August 16. “The ship that has the container could not discharge for 2 weeks, so it left and went to Togo to discharge cargo and is designated to come back and discharge at Tema on September 18th,” he said.
He warned that the congestion is having a domino effect on Ghana’s Sahelian neighbours. “Our Sahelian partners who rely on the Tema port for their imports. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are frantically seeking engagement with Ghanaian port stakeholders over containers destined for their markets that have been affected by the congestion,” he stated.
The IMANI boss appealed to the Minister of Trade and Industry to act, saying the crisis is his biggest test yet. “My dear Trade and Industry Minister, I recollect our discussion on how you deal with challenges, conflicts and disagreements. You let data and evidence-based reasoning guide your decisions. Arguably this mess at the Port is your biggest test yet,” he said.
“It is in our collective interest that business thrives so that the government can increase their revenue collection, people get decent jobs, pay their taxes and we get a vibrant middle class and grow the economy,” he added.
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