During the COVID-19 lockdown period, 79% of Ghana’s retail business was carried out online. The growth of this innovative means has attracted scammers. The program announced is aimed at weeding them out of the segment.  

Ghana’s Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission (PCSRC) announced Tuesday (April 26) the upcoming registration of e-commerce and logistics operators.

The program aims to create a secure online profile for the said operators to “root out” frauds and scams in that booming segment.  

According to an official release signed by PCSRC executive secretary Hamdaratu Zakaria (photo), “a free-to-use electronic portal has already been developed to enable (...) the public to obtain directory information on all registered e-commerce traders and logistics companies (including courier services) in good standing with the PCSRC before doing business with them.” 

The announcement comes days after the publication of an investigation by a local media, The Fourth Estate. According to the non-profit media launched by the  Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), crooks are forging the documents of duly registered companies to scam unsuspecting buyers. They also swindle goods worth millions due to clients’ inability to verify the authenticity of the documents they are presented. 

For the PCSRC, the registration program will rid the segment of those shady practices at a time when domestic regulation is “complicated” by the “ongoing trade liberalization regime under the AfCFTA and ECOWAS.” The local platform is also integrated with the AfCFTA’s African Trade Gateway, a  digital platform that provides market and due diligence information about counterparties. That way,  Ghanaians can get information on whether foreign operators are legit or not while foreigners will avoid being scammed by selected legit Ghanaian operators.  

The PCSRC release explains that in the future, the agency will work with other Ghanaian institutions to root out digital fraudsters wherever they operate. 

According to conservative estimates by the Ghana E-Commerce Association, the country’s e-commerce market will grow from US$481 million in 2021 to US$674 million in 2025. Its size will also grow to 11 million users by that time. 

Ruben Tchounyabe