The 16th Extraordinary Session of the General Assembly of The Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA) has been held in Accra, bringing together maritime experts, ministers for transport and maritime administrators in the subregion.
The meeting enabled member states arrive at strategic decisions that would see to the revitalization of the organisation’s operations which has been challenged over the past few years.
The meeting was also used to elect the new Secretary General of the MOWCA Secretariat Nigeria’s Dr. Paul Adalikwu.
Chairman of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA) and Ghana’s Transport Minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah noted that it is only through a coordinated and integrated effort through an organisation like MOWCA that development of the subregional blue economy can be effective.
Kwaku Ofori Asiamah said “no single member country can make significant progress on its own. In areas of maritime security, maritime safety and navigation, ports and infrastructure development, environmental protection, fisheries among others can only become effective when approached in a coordinated effort.”
He urged member states to honour their full commitments with respect to financial, administrative, and operational obligations.
Ghana’s Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, admonished MOWCA to lead the subregional efforts to urgently improve safety and security of territorial waters.
The Maritime Organisation for West and Central Africa (MOWCA) is aimed at providing an effective inter-governmental sub-regional platform for sectoral cooperation in the field of Maritime/Transit Transport in a maritime region where countries share common problems of demand and supply for shipping services and associated safety and environmental protection threats.
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