The harsh impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the country’s shipping industry extended to its transit trade partners with that side of the busines seeing a record 74percent fall in the first quarter of this year compared to Q1 2019.
According to first-quarter trade figures from the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA), total transit volume for the three landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger amounted to 72,212 metric tonnes for the period.
This figure is comprised of total transit import 54,581 metric tonnes, representing close to 79percent decrease over the 256,515 metric tonnes recorded for same period 2019 as well as the total transit export figure of 17,631 metric tonnes, representing a negative six percent dip over the 18,824 metric tonnes recorded in the previous period.
Major traded commodities for the quarter included fertilizer, general cargo, and cars/vehicles.
COVID-19 has greatly affected global trade negatively with global merchandise trade falling by 3percent year-on-year in quarter-one 2020, according to the World Trade Organisation.
The first quarter 2020 merchandise trade volume also saw a 2percent decline from that of last quarter 2019 with this downward trend expected to continue into the later part of the year 2020.