The Secretary General, Maritime Organization Of West And Central Africa (Mowca) Participation at the 5th International Maritime Conference/ Regional Maritime Exercise (Imcremex) 2024 at Admirality Conference Centre, Naval Dockyard Limited, Victorial Island Lagos, Nigeria on May 30-31, 2024
As part of the Secretary General’s engagement with Maritime stakeholders, His Excellency, Dr. Paul Adalikwu graced the 2024 International Maritime Conference organized by the Nigerian Navy, an activity to commemorate its 68th Anniversary celebrations. The event which was held at the admiralty Conference Center, Naval Dockyard Limited, Lagos, Nigeria on May 30-31, witnessed full participation of key industry players to deliberate on harnessing the benefits of the Blue Economy and leveraging on Maritime Security through concerted efforts.
In his keynote presentation, tagged; “Leveraging Maritime Security, Collaboration for Harnessing Blue Economy: Strategies and Mechanisms for Success”, Dr. Adalikwu stressed the importance for stakeholders to collaboratively leverage Maritime Security by ensuring safe and secure maritime spaces in order for Africa to harness the potentials of the blue economy. He stated that the varied approaches to achieving success include fostering regional cooperation, enhancing marine domain awareness, combating Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported Fishing (IUU Fishing) and maritime crimes, and investing in infrastructure and technology advocating for capacity building programmes and knowledge sharing initiatives.
The MOWCA talisman affirmed that for the country to maximally benefit from the benefits of the potentials of the blue economy, the pivotal role of Nigerian Navy must continue to be fully supported with adequate funding and capacitation, especially in the training and re-training of personnel to bring them into alignment with the current global best practices and realize the nation’s dream of harvesting optimally from the blue economy regime.
A couple of resolutions were reached at the event among which are; Sensitize respective governments on the need to:
i. Establish a combination of marine and maritime data to provide mandatory baseline for the development of the Blue Economy.
ii. Initiate and drive the development of a comprehensive framework for governance and management of the Blue Economy in the GoG and Africa.
iii. Facilitate a Whole of Government Approach in developing Africa’s Blue Economy through regular meetings, workshops and joint exercises to enhance coordination, collaboration and communication with all relevant stakeholders.
iv. Develop funding mechanism to encourage indigenous shipping and infrastructural development.
v. Facilitate the establishment of special funding such as the Maritime Security Trust Fund to finance maritime security operations for member states.
vi. Give impetus to the operationalization and sustainability of the Combined Maritime Task Force (CMTF) in the GoG.
vii. Set up regional maritime information fusion centers to foster collaboration and information sharing among participating countries, law enforcement agencies, navies, and maritime industry stakeholders.
viii. Enhance the capacity of fusion centers through infusion of technology, training, and technical assistance to improve their effectiveness in supporting maritime security operations.
Source : MOWCA
