$31 billion left Ghana without a single import to show for it

Between April 2020 and August 2025, $31 billion was transferred out of Ghana under the guise of importation with no goods ever entering the country.

That is the figure GRA Commissioner-General Anthony Sarpong disclosed on Joy FM's Super Morning Show on 10 April, drawing on five years of trade data run through the agency's new Publican AI system.

The dataset covers 525,000 Import Declaration Form transactions processed through the Integrated Customs Management System, valued at a combined $83 billion.

Of those, 10,440 were linked to actual imports. The rest either transferred funds abroad without corresponding goods, or remitted amounts that exceeded the value of goods imported. Banks approved some of those transfers above the Bank of Ghana's $200,000 threshold without supporting documentation.

That is not a customs problem alone. It is a banking compliance problem, a foreign exchange supervision problem, and a trade-based money laundering problem. The $31 billion figure implicates the entire chain from port to treasury.

What the AI found at the port

Separately, the Publican AI system's review of historical declarations identified GH¢11 billion in revenue lost to three categories of fraud: country-of-origin manipulation, misclassification of goods, and deliberate undervaluation. GH¢76 billion in import value was under-declared across the period reviewed.

Sarpong said the system does not determine values.

It flags suspicious transactions by comparing declared values against global price benchmarks and historical data. Where a declaration falls outside known ranges, the system raises a flag for customs officers to review. The importer can provide proof of genuine pricing. 75.3 percent of declarations pass without dispute. 24.7 percent are flagged.

Since going live at Tema Port on 11 March, the system has been processing declarations in approximately five minutes, down from two hours under the manual process.

In February, a proof-of-concept review of over 6,000 declarations flagged $3 million to $3.5 million per day in potential revenue from undervaluations. Extrapolated over a month, that is more than GH¢1 billion the state would not have collected.

The importers pivoted

The Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana had raised concerns about stakeholder consultation, data security, and system integration when the Publican AI deployment was first announced in late 2025.

On 9 April, Executive Secretary Samson Asaki Awingobit signed a statement of support, saying the association now "unequivocally" backs the system after extended engagement with the GRA. The IEAG is the largest organised trade body on the import side. Its initial resistance gave cover to a broader opposition coalition — the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders, the Ghana Union of Traders Associations, the Customs Brokers Association, and the Traders Advocacy Group Ghana — which had threatened to shut down clearance at ports if the system was not suspended by 7 April. That deadline passed without incident.

The contract question

The system was supplied through Truedare Investments Limited, a Cyprus-registered entity incorporated on 28 December 2024 with EUR 1,545 in share capital and a stated business object of "general trade." Parliament approved the GRA-Truedare agreement on 18 November 2025.

Former MP Joseph Cudjoe has demanded full disclosure of the contract terms, estimating that if Truedare receives 20 percent of incremental revenue, the company could collect approximately GH¢2.8 billion per year, or GH¢14 billion to GH¢28 billion over a five- to ten-year term. MP Michael Okyere Baafi, Ranking Member on Parliament's Trade and Industry Committee, called it a potential scandal and demanded immediate suspension.

The Traders Advocacy Group has sued the GRA under the Right to Information Act for access to the contract.

The GRA has described the arrangement as carrying no additional cost to the state. What that means in practice — whether Truedare is compensated through a revenue share, a flat fee, or something else — has not been disclosed publicly.

The wider frame

Ghana ranks third in sub-Saharan Africa for illicit financial flows as the GRA estimates annual losses of $3 billion to tax evasion, corruption, and smuggling, roughly 30 percent of potential collections.

The Finance Ministry reported a GH¢1.6 billion customs revenue shortfall in the first half of 2025, attributing it to widespread smuggling and systemic leakages.

The Publican AI deployment is not the only reform in the pipeline. The GRA is also rolling out an Advanced Cargo Information system requiring pre-arrival shipment manifests 24 hours before vessels leave origin ports, alongside staff rotations within the Customs Division.