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FILE PHOTO - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]
The lack of containers for the export of Guinea-Bissau’s cashew nuts is worrying the country’s private sector, the president of the Guinean Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Services (CCIAS), Mama Samba Embaló, said on Tuesday.
“It is the big threat to 2022 exports,” the Guinean engineer said.
According to Mama Samba Embaló, the Guinean private sector has two concerns regarding the cashew nut marketing campaign, which was officially launched today at a ceremony held at the government palace in Bissau.
“First, there are the containers of cashew exported last year that have not yet arrived at their destination and are in transit in other ports,” he said, explaining that the second concern is related to “some cashew stock from last year that has not yet left due to a lack of containers and ships.”
The CCIAS acting president explained that the problem had worsened with the departure of Maersk from the country, but the government had promised to find a solution to the problem of containers and ships that will export this year’s cashew harvest.
“It is a problem. Without ships to guarantee this year’s campaign, this year’s export will be complicated. We have to come up with the solution for cashew in transit and the export of this year’s nuts,” he stressed.
In August 2020, Danish company Maersk was involved in a legal controversy in Bissau, culminating in the seizure of a company ship, which was later released.
Following the dispute, which led to an order to arrest Jorge Mandinga, then Guinea-Bissau’s transport minister, who a judge accused of illegally ordering the seized ship to be released, Maersk decided to leave the country.
Sources linked to the Guinean private sector told Lusa that the company’s departure, which operates in over 130 countries and is one of the main container carriers in the world, has affected trade activity in Guinea-Bissau.
Cashew nuts are Guinea-Bissau’s main export and are the engine of the country’s economic growth, on which 80% of the Guinean population depends on directly or indirectly.
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