Ghana has become the first country to sign the Accra Convention, a new global treaty set to allow goods moving by road, rail and air to be used as collateral for bank loans, just like goods shipped by sea.
The Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, who signed the convention at a ceremony in Accra, described the move as a major boost for African traders whose capital was locked up on trucks.
The signing was done at a ceremony dubbed the UN Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents (Accra Convention) and the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
For over a century, the maritime bill of lading had served as a document of title, meaning cargo could be sold in the middle of a voyage or pledged to a bank by simply transferring the document.
Road, rail and air transport have no comparable instrument.
The Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR), also known as the road consignment note, the rail consignment notes and the air waybill under the Montreal Convention are deliberately non-negotiable.
“They confirm receipt and record the contract, but they do not carry title," the minister said.
The gap, she said, hurt Africa disproportionately as an estimated 90 per cent of Africa's freight moved by road, with intra-African trade yielding only 14.4 per cent of total trade in 2024.
Addressing challenges
Citing the African Development Bank's 2026 report, Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said Africa's unmet demand for trade finance stood between $74 billion and $92 billion in 2024, with insufficient collateral cited as a major reason banks rejected applications.
Small and medium enterprises are approved in only 63 per cent of cases, against 80 per cent for all applicants.
"Put simply, the law today gives a trader whose goods are on a truck between Tema and Abidjan fewer ways to raise finance than one whose goods are on a ship.
That is the imbalance this Convention was written to correct," the Trade, Agribusiness and Industry Minister said.
She added that the Accra Convention created three key fixes: it establishes a document of title for goods in transit by any mode where whoever holds it may claim the goods; protects buyers and banks who rely on it in good faith, and gives electronic documents the same legal effect as paper.
Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said the government would pilot negotiable cargo documents on the Tema-to-the-north corridor with the Shippers' Authority, the Ports and Harbours Authority, Customs and banks.
Game-changer
For his part, Transport Minister Joseph Bukari Nikpe said Ghana's transport sector was being held back by fragmented documentation and administrative delays that prevented seamless movement of goods across the region.
He said the Accra Convention was significant because it established a common legal framework for negotiable cargo documents across road, rail, air and sea, including both paper and electronic versions, allowing a single document to support an entire journey.
For the transport sector, he said the signing would be a game-changer that would improve organisations across modes, reduce documentary barriers, and strengthen the link between transport operations, cargo documentation and customs clearance.
Mr Nikpe, however, cautioned that the benefits would depend on effective implementation, and called for coordinated action among all actors to translate the Convention into practical gains.
