The African continent is no doubt the most resource-abundant continent and West Africa has a rich ecology, with strong biodiversity and several distinct regions. Many of the West African countries, like Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal, play important roles in the regional and global economies. Especially Ghana is literally sitting on a gold mine. Ghana is the world’s second-largest cocoa producer behind Ivory Coast and Africa’s biggest gold miner. Strategic governing coupled with great location led to the rapid emergence of a very wealthy empire. Ghana is one of the continent’s fastest-growing economies and has made major progress in the attainment and consolidation of growth. Today, Ghana is not only one of the best places for doing business in West Africa, but also the most resilient economy in West Africa.
Arkas’ fascination and passion for West Africa has started 10 years ago. This region offers endless business opportunities. The experience and industry know-how of more than one century make Arkas an ideal partner to successfully carry out all shipping and logistics operations in the countries of the Sub-Saharan Africa region such as Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Benin, Mauritania and in the landlocked countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger. The extensive network of Arkas in the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Northwest Continent and West Africa allows it to offer comprehensive, tailored transport and logistics services. Arkas operates three services on a regular weekly basis, namely WAS (West Africa Service), EAS (Europe Africa Service), SME (Senegal Mauritania Express), calling at West Africa’s major ports. Tema receives two of them each week, one is coming from North Europe (EAS), the other from the Mediterranean (WAS).
Ghana is a key country for Arkas Line serving in West Africa since 2012. In line with the strategy to develop in West Africa, Arkas Ghana Ltd. was established in 2017. This strategic spurt secures Arkas’ place among the strongest players in the region and maintains a long-term existence in the market. In addition to carrying out its agency activities on behalf of Arkas Line, Arkas Ghana has become one of the strong and reliable companies in the market also with its hinterland transportation and logistics organizations.
This year we had the honor of celebrating the 5th anniversary of Arkas Ghana on September 1st, at Accra Polo Club, with an elite participation including the dignitaries and the customers. It was a great honor to welcome Ozlem ERGUN ULUEREN, the Turkish Ambassador in Accra, at our event. Together with Querida Read (Managing Director) and Erkin Cetinbas (Deputy General Manager at Arkas Ghana); the Arkas Ghana Team consisting of 17 employees; Cenk Değer (CEO at Arkas Maritime Group Area & Agency Management), Ebru Atamturk (Managing Director of Arkas Northeurope GMBH), Perim Ozkaya (West Africa Country Director at Arkas Maritime Group), Irem Bedelagasi (Trade Manager at Arkas Line), who represent the Management of Arkas Line and Arkas Shipping; and the shareholder James Baldwin shared their proud, excitement and joy with their esteemed invitees.
In his opening speech at the ceremony, the Board Member and shareholder of Arkas Ghana, James Baldwin said ‘We are grateful to you, our clients, for your continued support for Arkas Line. It works, because Arkas settles customer relationships as a high priority.’
Arkas Ghana Managing Director Querida Read said ‘This agency could not have survived and grown if it hadn’t been for the support of our principals, Arkas Line, Arkas Shipping, The Turkish Embassy, MPS, GPHA and our fabulous customers.’
Arkas Maritime Group West Africa Director, Perim Ozkaya, mentioned in her speech: “Here is an ancient Latin saying, Mare Nostrum, which means the sea that belongs to us. That was the Mediterranean in those times. As Arkas, since more than a century, we have been proud of calling the Mediterranean and the Black Sea as Mare Nostrum. Ten years ago, we set sail to the ocean and came to West Africa, where no one had ever heard the brand of Arkas, nor ever seen our dark blue vessels and Arkas containers. Before coming here to West Africa, we had a dream of becoming a respectful, reliable partner and introducing the name of Arkas Line not as a simple carrier, but as a solution provider in the shipping and logistics industry. Five years ago, on September 1st, 2017, we established our company, Arkas Ghana, and since then we have developed even more, not only as a shipping line and its agent in Ghana, but also as a logistics service provider reaching up to the landlocked countries.”
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Message from the Arkas Ghana Team, written by Samuel Ocran, Arkas Ghana Sales & Marketing Manager:
‘Arkas Ghana was established 5 years ago, after Arkas Line had found the Ghana market to be very promising and, thus, decided to invest more in Ghana. With the future looking so bright, no one thought a global pandemic and harsh economic conditions were on their way. Those times were difficult, but the team sailed through with the support of Arkas and all service providers and authorities. In 5 years, our client base has grown, and we have become well-known in the market, as providing an outstanding customer service, and building strong relationships with the relevant authorities in our industry. Despite some challenges, which were out of our control such as port congestion etc., we have been able to manage everything, most importantly enabled customer satisfaction, which has increased customer loyalty. We became partners. We cannot talk about Arkas Ghana without talking about the amazing team members. This team has been together since the company was only a third-party agency at the beginning of 2012. Teamwork is very paramount amongst the team, we all share a common goal which is to ensure that Arkas Line is satisfied. Arkas Ghana will look at the future with hope and confidence knowing that we will be here celebrating our 10th anniversary and beyond.’
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Other messages from the Team;
‘Arkas Ghana’s 5th Anniversary Party was a great opportunity for us to show everybody that we are not only able to work together, but also to be a real and strong Team at any moment out of work. We have shared our happiness with our invitees on this precious day. We are thankful to our principal and our shareholders who participated in the event, it feels good to see we are precious to them!’ / Erkin Cetinbas, Deputy General Manager
‘The event was held to celebrate success with a team of people who are determined to be the very best. Hurray to our great team!’ / Nora Kuzagbe, Customer Services Manager
‘We felt a surge of happiness seeing our families from Turkey. We were full of joy to welcome you, our principals and shareholders, to the occasion and felt honored with your attendance. We believe in teamwork, wisdom, inspiration, passion, drive power and perseverance which have brought us this far. Together we will make Arkas Ghana Ltd the best in West Africa. Greetings from the Arkas Ghana crew to you all!’ / Jane Quansah, Customer Services Assistant Manager
‘September 1st, 2022 was a very important occasion for Arkas Ghana. It was a really wonderful night with the showers of rain prior to the start of the event. This was indeed a sign of blessing for Arkas Ghana. The unity and brotherhood amongst us were very much adored. Long live Arkas Ghana!’ / Patrick Nyarko, Customer Services Representative
‘That was an awesome day as we celebrated this achievement by sharing our joy and pride with our distinguished stakeholders. We proved that together we are stronger. Cheers as we continue the journey of success with pride!’ / Cecilia Essah, Accounting Assistant
