By Eamonn Ryan
This webinar titled ‘Strengthening the Cold Chain: Analysis and Recommendations for West Africa’, focused on current cold chain conditions and future opportunities in Ghana, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. Hosted by the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA), it featured a panel of global and regional cold chain experts with deep operational, technical and policy experience. The panel included:
- Greg Laurin, president, Conestoga Cold Stores
- Nicholas Pedneault, CEO, Congebec
- Roudy Akiki, COO Africa, CT-Technologies
- Paul Matthew, director, GCCA Africa
- Amanda Brondy, vice-president, International Projects, GCCA
- Madison Jaco, manager, International Projects, GCCA
Together, these speakers brought perspectives spanning cold storage operations, logistics, engineering, energy systems, investment, and international development programming.
This is part two of an eight-part series, and this section situates Ghana, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire within the regional trade landscape and explains the structure, objectives, and methodology of the USDA-funded Emerging Markets Program assessment.
Regional geography and trade significance
Jaco began by orienting participants to the geography of the study area. Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire share a border along the Gulf of Guinea, while Senegal lies further northwest, also along the Atlantic coast. All three countries host major seaports that function as regional trade gateways not only for their domestic economies but also for landlocked countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Because of this strategic location, investments in cold chain infrastructure within these coastal states have a multiplier effect across West Africa. Improvements to storage, handling and transportation systems can strengthen regional food security, facilitate cross-border trade and reduce post-harvest losses far beyond national boundaries.
USDA Emerging Markets Program (EMP)
The assessment presented in the webinar was conducted under the USDA Emerging Markets Program, which aims to expand market access for US agricultural products while supporting long-term development of food systems in partner countries. GCCF’s role in this initiative was to evaluate technology, operations and investment readiness in cold chain logistics and food safety across the three focus countries.
While USDA has a clear interest in boosting US exports of perishable products such as poultry, meat and dairy, GCCF emphasised that the programme also supports locally produced, imported and exported food products. Strengthening the cold chain benefits the entire food system by improving quality, safety and reliability.
Scope and nature of the assessment
Madison clarified that GCCF’s work was a qualitative follow-up assessment, building on an earlier investment-focused study conducted by LixCap with USDA support. Rather than measuring market size or investment returns, this assessment focused on identifying knowledge gaps, operational challenges and training needs within the existing cold chain ecosystem.
The assessment process began with a literature review of prior research on West African cold chain markets, much of it funded by US government programmes. This was followed by in-country visits during September and October 2024, where GCCF experts and GCCA staff conducted site observations and key informant interviews.
Stakeholders engaged
The team met with a wide range of stakeholders, including:
- Cold storage operators and logistics providers
- Government agencies and port authorities
- Importers and exporters of perishable goods
- Food processors and producers
- Engineering, design and construction firms
- Equipment suppliers and development partners
This broad engagement ensured that the findings reflected the realities of daily operations as well as policy, infrastructure and investment considerations.
Core objectives of the project
The overarching goal of the EMP-funded project is to strengthen cold chain capacity to handle growing volumes of perishable food and agricultural products. Specifically, the project aims to:
- Increase regional and international trade in perishable goods
- Reduce food loss and waste
- Improve food safety and product quality
- Support private-sector investment and professionalization of the cold chain
These objectives guided the analysis of infrastructure, transportation, energy and workforce capacity discussed in later sections.