He said the government must provide important details about the new company that will be taking over West Blue’s operations.

A statement from the management of West Blue on Wednesday sighted by citifmonline.com, said an agreement has been entered by the two companies to that effect.

“Customs World, a subsidiary of Ports Customs and Free Zones Corporation (PCFC) Dubai, has signed an agreement to take over West Blue Ghana Limited, the company engaged for the provision of the National Single Window and Risk Management System in Ghana. This agreement formalizes the establishment of ‘Ports & Customs World Ghana Limited,’” the statement said.

“What kind of contractual arrangements is government going to enter with the new company that is taking over from West Blue, and how long is the contract going to last? Is the new company going to continue where West Blue stopped, and how much will it cost?”

“There are a lot of companies that are crying in silence because they entered into contractual arrangements with the previous government. There are genuine questions that need to be asked because it involves money,” he added.

But according to Murtala Mohammed, West Blue’s decision to close operations in Ghana was not voluntary, but were forced to do so by the government.

“I am not surprised at all. Some of us saw it coming. That company went through a lot of frustration when the NPP came to power…I am aware that they went through a lot of frustration. For the purposes of their business interests, they may not want to admit but they were frustrated and a strangely another company has been contracted,” Murtala told Richard Sky on Eyewitness News.

West Blue Consulting, an IT firm engaged by the John Mahama government to provide a National Single Window and Risk Management System in Ghana, had been operating in the country since 2015.

The companies engagement by the former government was met with stiff opposition from members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

There were recent concerns about whether the country was operating a single window or a double window following complaints of a duplication of duty by West Blue Consulting and the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) at the ports.

The NPP government’s decision to operate a paperless system at the ports rekindled debates on the operations of GCNet and West Blue.

Details of West Blue’s takeover by Customs World, are yet to be made public.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The world class IT-consulting & technology firm was awarded for providing technical support in trade facilitation in Ghana.

This award adds to the many awards that West Blue Consulting has received both locally and international since it started operations in Ghana.

The IT-consulting firm which is the only company providing Single Window in Ghana was recently awarded by the World Customs Organization (WCO) through the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority for rendering exceptional service to the international community.

The maiden edition of the Ghana Maritime & Shipping Awards was organized by Ninetyeightz Events, which is the brain behind the widely acclaimed National Aviation Awards held last year.

The awards identifies, and publicly recognize outstanding performers as well as contributors to the country’s maritime industry, at the institutional, enterprise and individual levels.

Valentina Minta, Chief Executive of West Blue Consulting expressed appreciation to the organizers for recognizing their work with the award, stating “We are proud to be a recipient of the award in Ghana.”

She dedicated the award to all who dare to dream and to the staff of West Blue for their dedication and hard work.

Ms Minta also express appreciation to government of Ghana for the support to a Ghanaian owned company, assuring that the company would continue to work with the government and stakeholders to ensure the nation enjoys the full benefits of a facilitated trade environment to make business convenient in Ghana.

Single Window Achievement

West Blue Consulting, in partnership with the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, launched the Ghana National Single Window (GNSW) project.

Under the project, import clearance transactions at the Tema Port and the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) have reduced from two weeks to two hours to increase government’s revenue at the ports.

Ghana’s ranking has increased in the World Bank Trading Across Border Reports from 167 in 2015 to 154 in 2017; and in the Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-region, Ghana ranked first in West Africa and Top 10 in Sub Saharan Africa, coming in at the 9th position out of the 47 countries ranked in the region.

The country also made tremendous improvements in the Global Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranking, rising 12 places from 100th in 2014 to 88th in 2016 out of 160 countries.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post West Blue Wins Maritime & Shipping Award appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.