- Adalikwu described the JAP as a bold step towards ensuring improved safety of ships, crew members and cargoes on African waters, especially in the West and Central African regions.
- He added that the move would engender more technical cooperation between IMO and MOWCA for strategic human capital development that will leverage technology.
- “Enhancing gender diversity and safety of women in the maritime sector.”
A Joint Action Plan (JAP) has been approved by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa (MOWCA) to improve maritime security, and safe, effective, and environmentally friendly commerce as reported by This Day.
New technologies
IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim, MOWCA Secretary General Dr Paul Adalikwu, and transportation ministers from West and Central African nations were present when the JAP was approved on Thursday at the IMO headquarters in London.
Both organisations concurred that the JAP should be active in its initial phase from 2022 to 2032 and executed in accordance with the African Maritime Transport Charter, the African Integrated Maritime Strategy 2050, and the African Charter on Maritime Security, Safety, and Development.
The JAP, according to Adalikwu, is a brave move toward enhancing the safety of ships, crew members, and cargoes in African seas, particularly in the West and Central African areas.
He continued by saying that the action would lead to increased technical collaboration between IMO and MOWCA for technologically-driven strategic human capital development.
IMO’s theme for 2022, “New technologies for greener shipping,” according to him, calls for short-, medium-, and long-term approaches to environmental sustainability.
Suitable measures
Adalikwu stated that the Joint Action Plan (JAP) would strive to improve the regional execution of the Sub-Regional Integrated Coast Guard Function Network for West and Central Africa’s existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed in Dakar in 2008.
“Organising workshops and executing suitable actions to integrate legal measures across West and Central Africa while guaranteeing that pirates and people committing maritime crimes do not elude prosecution” is another component of the JAP.
putting necessary measures into practice to speed up the MOWCA Information and Communication Center’s delivery (INFOCOM).
“Creating and carrying out a long-term road map for the establishment of an African maritime organisation, similar to the European Maritime Safety Agency, with the support of the African Union Commission (AUC), carrying out duties in support of the AUC nautical charters and strategies, as well as supporting and completing, once fully operational, the work of the IMO in Africa.
Implementing suitable measures to fill any gaps in offering technical assistance to MOWCA Member States in developing institutional and human capacity in areas like Implementing IMO instruments, such as Conventions, Resolutions, Codes, and Guidelines putting into practise Corrective Actions Plans (CAP) to address audit conclusions and observations from the IMO Member States Audit Scheme (IMSAS).”
IMO Greenhouse Gas Strategy
“Managing energy efficiency and lowering emissions from international ships, particularly decreasing the costs associated with adopting the IMO Greenhouse Gas Strategy.” Increasing the safety of women in the maritime industry and gender diversity; “establishing a governments and industry technical cooperation forum, similar to the IMO Global Initiative for West, Central and Southern Africa (GI WACAF), that provides a platform for governments and industry to collaborate in strengthening safety and environmental standards/performance, as well as capacity building, in West and Central Africa.”
Among the transport ministers from MOWCA member nations present were Ghana’s transport minister and MOWCA chairman Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, as well as Nigeria’s Muazu Jaji Sambo, who was represented by the ministry’s permanent secretary Dr Magdalene Ajani.
Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Guinea, The Gambia, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Gabon were also represented at the summit.
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Source: This Day
