Source: Financial Times, 14th December 2011

As modern container ships enter the port of Tema, west of Accra, they pass, unnoticed by most of the crew, a series of symbols of the port's progress. To the vessel's east lie the surf-pounded beaches that once served as the makeshift port for this part of Ghana's coast. The vessels pass tiny fishing smacks heading to and from Tema's fishing harbour - but, until 50 years ago, similar craft would have shuttled goods to and from vessels waiting offshore to load and unload. Once inside the breakwater of the 1960s-built harbour, meanwhile, the vessels are greeted by tall, modern quayside cranes. They are testimony to how Meridian Port Services, the largely private company that now runs the terminal, has transformed operations since it took over the facility in 2007.