The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Anthony Sarpong, has revealed that a comprehensive five-year review of trade data has uncovered significant irregularities involving an estimated $31 billion transferred out of Ghana without corresponding imports entering the country.
He described the findings as “very revealing,” noting that they expose deep-rooted weaknesses in the country’s import monitoring and declaration systems at the ports.
Speaking on the matter, he explained that the analysis of historical trade data pointed to extensive systemic gaps that have long affected revenue oversight.
“When we took office, we did a study of the past data about five years back, and the results were very revealing… we were able to show… close to about 31 billion USD has been transferred out of the country without goods coming in,” he stated.
According to him, the discrepancies go beyond simple reporting errors and have serious implications for foreign exchange management and national revenue protection. The review also identified recurring issues such as misclassification of goods, inaccurate valuation, and manipulation of country-of-origin declarations.
He further disclosed that investigations uncovered coordinated collusion among some shipping line personnel, customs officials, and importers, which facilitated the leakages over time.
“We then also found out that there was some collusion among shipping line staff, customs officers, and some importers. And this is how the scheme was being run,” he revealed.
Mr Sarpong indicated that these findings have triggered urgent reforms within the Authority, particularly as reliance on manual processes and discretionary decision-making had created opportunities for exploitation.
“So, we said we need to tackle this… using the same human beings and the extensive discretion… was not going to help us at all,” he added.
To address these challenges, the GRA has introduced automation and artificial intelligence-driven systems aimed at strengthening controls in key risk areas such as classification, valuation, and origin verification. Central to this reform is the rollout of the Publican system, a digital platform designed to detect anomalies before clearance of goods.
Launched on March 12, 2026, the Publican system operates as a real-time monitoring tool that compares import declarations against global pricing benchmarks and historical trade data. Unlike the previous manual approach, the AI-powered platform is capable of flagging suspicious transactions instantly.
Revenue leakages at Ghana’s ports have remained a longstanding policy concern, often driven by under-declaration, misclassification, and transit diversion, where goods destined for neighbouring countries are illegally sold locally.
The issue has gained renewed attention following a reported GH¢1.6 billion shortfall in customs revenue in 2025, alongside sanctions imposed on officials linked to irregular transit cargo clearance.
Mr Sarpong expressed confidence that the shift toward automation would significantly reduce these leakages and improve efficiency across the system.
“And the use of AI or automation… will give us the opportunity to see ahead of time,” he said.
