Integrated effort key to unleashing prospects in maritime sector -Transport

By Eugene Davis

The Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, has asked players in the maritime space to collaborate e ectively in the development of relevant strategies for the operations, extraction and utilization of maritime resources.

According to him, the mandate of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA) is essential and e orts should be championed for its e ective and e cient operation.

“I must reiterate that; no single Member State can make signi cant strides on their own. Areas such as maritime security, maritime safety and navigation, port and infrastructure development, environmental protection, sheries amongst others can only become e ective when approached with a coordinated and integrated e ort,” the Minister said this at the 17 Extraordinary Session of the General Assembly of

MOWCA in Accra.

Mr. Asiamah who is also the chairman of MOWCA also encouraged members to focus on actions that will ensure its people bene t while tackling some deep-seated issues, including rules of procedure, nancial regulations and conditions of sta .

Further, Mr. Asiamah stated that member states dependence on imports of nished goods and exports of raw materials can only be facilitated by shipping which is a major activity in maritime industry.

It is estimated that about 80percent of international trade is done via maritime space, with the minister adding that shipping remains the most-e ective way of transporting any large/bulk amount of goods over a great distance.

The Minister of Foreign A airs,

Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, who was the guest of honour indicated that the organization must begin frank discussions on current developments in Green Shipping initiatives which involve the use of alternative fuels with low or zero carbon, in place of fossil fuels -that is fast becoming the new way of shipping.

To this end, she urged Africa’s Maritime Industry to be prepared for the cost rami cations of the impending transition to cleaner fuels to Ship-owners translating to increased freight rates.

“I will urge MOWCA to consider the e ects of the market-based measures under discussion within the International Maritime Organisation on our economies. It would also be pertinent to identify possible ways to bene t from any fund arising thereof, in order to minimize the e ects of the transition on all players, particularly Least Devel- oped Countries LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Dr. Paul Adalikwu, the Secretary-General of MOWCA disclosed that the organization has rmed up plans to set up the Maritime Development Bank to be located in Nigeria, of which MOWCA’s global pro le is being ramped up through her rm and active mutually rewarding links to the global International Maritime Organisation and the emergence of a pan-African Maritime organization.

MOWCA’s objective is to serve the regional and international community for handling all maritime matters that are regional in character. MOWCA uni es 25 countries on the West and Central African shipping range.