Nigeria, Ghana sign MoU on enhancing their maritime sector

17 Octobre 2017

Abuja, Nigeria, October 17 (Infosplusgabon) - Nigeria and Ghana on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on enhancing regional integration to develop capacity in their maritime sector.

The MoU was signed by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) at the Nigerian Maritime Resource Development Centre in Lagos, Nigeria.

The highlights of the renewable MoU, which has a life span of four years, include knowledge transfer and sharing initiative between both Agencies; Joint capacity building initiative; Joint comparative research initiative; and Joint efforts to combat piracy and terrorism initiative.

Early this year, the Management of the Ghana Maritime Authority visited the NIMASA on a fact- finding mission with the aim of ascertaining areas of possible collaboration and cooperation.

The Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, noted at the signing ceremony that intra-African collaboration is a vital requirement for Africans to effectively harness the natural potentials that the Blue economy represents for the continent.

According to Dr Perterside, African countries must cooperate to solve challenges peculiar to the continent.  "All maritime nations on the African continent have comparative advantage in different areas, and only collaboration will ensure that we complement each other, thus ensuring that the maritime sector contributes effectively to the growth of the continent.”

Dr. Peterside, who is also the chairman of the Association of Heads of African Maritime Administrations, noted that Nigeria and Ghana have a historical link in the maritime sector.

He said that the African maritime sector is richly endowed to the extent that coastal and aquatic ecosystems within the continent are treasures that provide diverse and vibrant natural resources.

The Director-General of the Ghana Maritime Authority, Mr. Kwame Owusu, commended NIMASA and its Management for the role of championing the growth of the maritime sector in the sub-region in particular and in Africa in general.

He noted that the MoU would bring about constructive and healthy competition within the West African sub-region, as Ghana would continue to cross-fertilize ideas with Nigeria in the needed areas and at the same time learn from NIMASA as regards critical functional areas of maritime operations as encapsulated in the MoU.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/IKL/GABON 2017

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