Michael Achagwe Luguje is a Ghanaian accomplished bilingual port management specialist. He hails from Navrongo in the Upper East Region of Ghana and was born at Pong, Tamale in Ghana’s Northern region.
Prior to his elevation into the higher office of the Director General, Michael Luguje was serving as a senior management level employee of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority who was on a technical secondment to the Ports Management Association of West and Central Africa.
He has extensive international experience in the ports sector of West and Central Africa.
He has an Executive MBA in Project and Strategic Management from Paris Graduate School of Management in France.
He also holds a Master of Science in Maritime Affairs from the World Maritime University in Malmo in Sweden.
He holds a B.A. French and Linguistics from the University of Ghana, Legon.
Michael Luguje has attended various professional training seminars and workshops on port reforms, human resource management, performance indicators, concessions management and project management.
Prior to his appointment as Ag. DG of GPHA, Michael Luguje was the Secretary General of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa in Lagos, Nigeria. He has been occupying that position since August 2012.
He was also the Executive Secretary of Pan African Association of Port Cooperation in Lagos, Nigeria from August 2012 – February 2017.
He was also the Regional Coordinator for West and Central Africa at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN Agency responsible for global regulation of shipping and maritime transport from April 2007 – July 2012.
In the course of his service to GPHA, Michael Luguje was also the Planning Manager and Special Assistant to the then Director General of GPHA, Ben Owusu Mensah from October 2004 – March 2007.
From the year 2001 – 2004, he was the Senior Public Relations/Marketing Officer at GPHA and prior to that from 1999 – 2001, he was the Human Resource/Training Officer at GPHA.
Michael Luguje had his National Service as a French Instructor at GPHA from Oct 1997 – 1998.
His Professional Consulting experience include consulted on short term advisory basis for global investors with interest in Africa’s port sector through partner consulting firms including Qalis in France and AlphaSights in London and Dubai from 2015 – 2016.
He provided key expert support services to a number of other renowned international consulting firms including MTBS (Holland), Duca Consulting (USA), BENOM Consult (Ghana), and CODEX SA (Cote d’Ivoire) since 2010.
Michael Luguje also Consulted as Port Sector Specialist for a USAID funded Trade and Industry Program for a Competitive Export Economy (TIPCEE) project for Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry in Ghana (2008/2009).He Conducted a study of the seaports and airports imports/exports Customs and port clearance procedures and costs in Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo.
In addition he provided services as key expert in regional port tariff surveys and landlocked transit trade respectively on a joint project by the Ghana Shippers Authority; Burkina Faso Chamber of Commerce and State Insurance Company Ltd of Ghana on transit trade facilitation mechanisms for single transit bond for landlocked countries using Ghana’s ports from the year 2000 – 2001.
Michael Luguje is a Port policy and management specialist with extensive experience in port reforms, port supply chain and trade facilitation, privatization, business development and human resource management and port and maritime institutional cooperation at the regional and continental level.
His Professional Accomplishments include but not limited to providing overall leadership, policy advice, coordination and implementation for the 20 member States Port Management Association of West and Central Africa as well as the Pan African Association for Ports Cooperation covering the entire port sector of Africa.
He proposed and implemented key reforms of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa and the PAPC which strengthened their finances, improved their comparative advantage to key industry partners such as the World Bank, EU, US Coast Guard, ECOWAS and the AUC, as a key reference entity for port related policy formulation and trade facilitation from August 2012 – to date.
He provided global port sector inputs to help the ports to reposition themselves and look beyond direct port business and to mainstream trade facilitation and business development as part of their overall objectives.
He Conducted needs assessments for member ports of West and Central, recommended relevant training in port concessions management, port performance indicators, contemporary humans resources management, port efficiency and optimal infrastructure utilization, port community systems and trade single windows; etc. and recruited consultants to provide needed training to member ports.
He Proposed and initiated key reforms of the PMAWCA regional port training Centre to provide best value training programs for the benefit of member ports and the transport sector in general.
Michael Luguje also played active roles in various trade facilitation committees in Ghana for the development of trade to and from Ghana’s landlocked neighboring countries.
Already, some industry players have welcomed Michael Luguje’s appointment with kind words.
“The Importers and Exporters association wishes to use this opportunity, to congratulate him and wish him all the best and we will support him”, Executive Secretary, Importers and Exporters Association, Samson Asaki said.
“This is a known face already, who knows the terrain, he has worked within the GPHA for some time and he knows all what there is. He will be up to the task and what it requires to take GPHA forward from where Paul has left it”, Managing Director, RJD Consulting and Logistics, Joseph Agbagba.
The players are also hopeful of greater improvement in port policy directions within Ghana.
“Our Port is expanding, come 2019, 2020, the new port will be opened for businesses. Why are we expanding our port, just to be exporting empty containers? What can be done about exports? I’m hoping that this is a challenge I want to throw to Mr. Michael Luguje”, Executive Secretary, Importers and Exporters Association, Samson Asaki appealed.
“My expectation as far as the paperless project is concerned, it is about trade facilitation. How he will whip up GPHA to streamline and smooth out the rough edges that is inhibiting the connectivity between the agents declaration work electronically”, Managing Director, RJD Consulting and Logistics, Joseph Agbagba.
The industry players however assure him of their unflinching cooperation.
“Our doors are open, we are prepared to work with him even if he calls us at night, we will respond to his call”, Executive Secretary, Importers and Exporters Association, Samson Asaki.
“We currently are on the quiet, but when it matters, and we are called upon we will give our helping hands and give our knowledge that we have within the maritime sector”, Managing Director, RJD Consulting and Logistics, Joseph Agbagba.