BoG Orders Shipping Firms to Disclose Exchange Rates in New Transparency Drive

Effective Tuesday, July 22, 2025, all shipping companies, terminal operators, freight forwarders, and other port service providers in Ghana are required to publicly disclose the exchange rates they use for billing, either on their websites or visibly at their business premises.

The directive, issued by the Bank of Ghana (BoG), forms part of new guidelines aimed at enhancing transparency and consistency in the country’s shipping and logistics sector.

According to the BoG, service providers must also clearly communicate their applicable exchange rates to customers before invoices are issued. Each invoice must now indicate the currency of the service, the exchange rate applied, the date of application, and the total amount billed in either Ghana cedis (GHS) or U.S. dollars (USD).

The central bank emphasized that all exchange rates used for billing must be reflective of market conditions and not arbitrarily determined. This move seeks to address long-standing complaints by importers and exporters about inconsistent and often unclear exchange rate practices across different service providers.

In the event of a disagreement over the exchange rate applied, customers are encouraged to first file a formal complaint with the service provider. If the issue remains unresolved, they can escalate the complaint to the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) for resolution.

All industry players are reminded to comply with the Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723) and other relevant laws. The BoG cautioned that failure to comply with the guidelines may result in administrative sanctions.

These exchange rate guidelines will remain in force until they are amended or revoked by the Bank of Ghana.