Cargo trucks from Ghana that have been denied entry into Ivory Coast for close to two weeks have now been granted access into the country.
CEO of the Ghana Shippers Authority Dr Kofi Mbiah who confirmed this to Citi Business News said ‘We went into a series of meetings and finally the Ivoirians have agreed to allow the trucks to move into Ivory Coast’.
The development follows days of negotiations between the Ghana Shippers Authority, the Transport ministry and their Ivorian counterparts over the matter.
Scores of trucks from Ghana, Togo and Nigeria for over two weeks have been stranded at the Elubo-Noe border after Ivorian authorizes issued a new directive that only cargo from ECOWAS member states would be allowed into Ivory Coast while goods from other parts of the world should be cleared at the seaport.
The directive which was introduced in 2005 was never enforced till two weeks ago.
CEO of the Ghana Shippers Authority Dr Kofi Mbiah tells Citi Business News Ivory Coast has agreed to allow the trucks from Ghana to pass through but only after paper work on the matter has been finalized.
‘We will require some paper work, because this directive was based on an order sent to all border posts and so those at the border post would expect this order before they can act.
So in the interim the trucks will not be allowed into ivory coast but am hopeful by the end of the week the paper work will be completed and certainly the trucks will be allowed into Ivory Coast’.
By: Vivian Kai Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana