Single Window Systems
In the OIC Member States
41
investments costs are estimated to be around 3-4 million US$ for the GCMS and the Single
Window.
GCNet Ltd. is a profit making company and sustains its operation solely through the fee
collected from end-users. The amount and structure of the user fee structure is defined in the
PPP contract and is fixed at 0.4% of declared FOB value on import. Certain sensitive
transactions (e.g. petroleum imports, government and donor funded projects) are exempted
from the fee payment and no fees are collected for export-oriented transactions. There are no
annual or other subscription fees to be paid by the end-users. The GCNet fee is calculated and
collected together with the customs duties and taxes. In terms financial sustainability, the fees
are sufficient to “cover operational expenditure and to finance new investments for replacement
software, hardware, systems upgrades, and maintenance of systems”35 and pay out dividends to
the shareholders since the third year of operations.
Human Resources
GCNet Ltd. employs approximately 200 permanent staff. The organizational structure consists
of four groups of staff: senior executives, officers, junior management and administrative staff.
The total number of employees in the IT Department is 80; approximately half of the IT staff is
involved in development of the i-transit, part of GCMS systems, and the Ghana e-Government
initiative36.
GCNet Ltd. has a mixed IT organizational structure. Agencies’ IT departments are fully involved
at all stages of the systems’ development, including business process analysis, user and
functional requirements, and software and hardware infrastructure.
The training of staff is a key aspect for retaining staff, in particular IT staff. The GCNet Ltd. is
certified according to ISO:9001 Quality Assurance and there is an appointed quality assurance
manager.
2.3.3 SW Strategic Orientation
The strategic objectives of GCNet are discussed and adopted in annual strategy meetings by the
board and senior management jointly with the objectives for the GCMS. The strategy is geared
towards delivering the performance results and objectives fixed in the PPP contract. Beyond
their contractual commitments, GCNet sees the Single Window development and operation as
35 ITC, Public-Private Partnership for Integrated Customs Services in Ghana, under
Accessed January 2017)
36Ghana e-Government Interoperability Framework under
.pdf