Cold chains across the region strengthened

Over 100 logistics operators in the cold chains of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal have been helped to improve their systems through the US Department of Agriculture- funded (USDA) Emerging Markets Programme managed by the Global Cold Chain Foundation (GCCF), in partnership with the USDA and Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA). This followed an analysis of West African cold chain logistics by the GCCA, which found that poor cold chain logistics caused post-harvest losses of up to 50% for perishable goods across the three countries. Ports in the countries serve as crucial import/export gateways and transhipment hubs for landlocked neighbours like Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. While major urban centres and ports had basic or developing cold storage facilities in place, rural production areas suffered from a severe lack of infrastructure, according to the study. Road transport dominates the region, making perishable goods highly susceptible to traffic congestion, poor road conditions and long transit times. The study found chilled and frozen products being loaded into ambient trucks in Ghana, and drivers based in the Ivory Coast and Senegal turning off refrigeration to save fuel. There was minimal temperature- controlled transportation from farm to collection centres, Madison Jaco, GCCA manager of international projects, told a workshop. There is also a lack of service assistance for broken- down refrigerated trucks outside major cities. A lack of structured backhaul programmes makes two-way cold transport highly inefficient. Key recommendations from the study include bridging rural- urban infrastructure gaps and upgrading third-party logistics to improve regional food security and export competitiveness. These target cold-chain networks of high-value commodities such as seafood, poultry, horticultural products and pharmaceuticals. GCCF has facilitated 10 mentorship relationships between international expert members and local operators in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Morocco and Mauritania. The mentorships provided one- on-one technical support to individual cold storage and logistics operators, warehouse designers, business development professionals and customer service representatives in West Africa. GCCF also delivered a series of in-person training sessions and consultations in the three countries during 2025. Training covered business development for third-party cold storage and logistics providers and design-built best practices for cold storage and warehouse operations. The in-person activities were supplemented by English and French digital resources on GCCA’s Cold Chain eCampus. More than 100 individuals received technical cold chain support through this project, according to the organisation. In a separate project, the GCCA provided training for logistics operators in Mauritania. ER