Mr. Godwin ALINI YANDJANGOYE, DG of the Office des Ports et Rades du Gabon (OPRAG), new President of PMAWCA
The ceremony of handing over the presidency of Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) from Ghana to Gabon, and from the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA) to the Office des Ports et Rades du Gabon (OPRAG), which was supposed to be held in Luanda during the 42nd Council, but which was postponed due to problems with the concordance of the calendars of some key players, was finally held on Friday, December 16, 2022, at the headquarters of PMAWCA, located in Nigeria.
The ceremony, which started at 11:00 am sharp, was chaired by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko, First Vice President of the association and flag bearer of the host country of PMAWCA headquarters, Nigeria. After welcoming the Ghanaian and Gabonese delegations to Nigeria, Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko reassured PMAWCA of Nigeria’s unfailing support.
The outgoing President, Mr. Michael Luguje, who is the current Vice President of IAPH – Africa Zone, was invited to deliver his speech for the occasion and he started by giving a summary of some of the progress made by the PMAWCA during his tenure, which has greatly contributed to giving the Association a respectable place in inter-port cooperation in Africa and in the world. He then thanked the NPA and the Nigerian authorities for the tremendous support they have given to the Association through the past and present Executive Directors. After acknowledging the hard work of the Secretary General and his staff, he encouraged the new President to continue to pave the way for such progress. Mr. Luguje did not fail to mention some of the Association’s current challenges that the incoming president may need to address urgently, including the issue of the Cotonou Training Center and the implementation of the recent constitutional amendments.
After the ritual of transfer of powers which consisted in the signature of the document of transfer, the transmission of symbolic files and the flag of PMAWCA, the new president of PMAWCA, Mr. Godwin ALINI YANDJANGOYE who is the current DG of OPRAG took the floor for his acceptance speech. The new president thanked his predecessor for the unique impact he had on the life of the association, first as secretary general and then as president, and for his unfailing leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic. He pledged to PMAWCA, through the Secretariat and the NPA Executive Director present, to take PMAWCA to greater heights, capitalizing on the accomplishments of the outgoing President and paving the way for innovative solutions to the association’s current challenges.
Note that this rotation occurs after two years on the Board, the term of office for this position.
