Stakeholders canvass exploration of Africa’s maritime potentials
Stakeholders at the celebration of African Day of Seas and Oceans’’ has called for the exploration of the huge potentials available in the maritime domain as a key to unlocking the prosperity for the economy.
Delivering a paper titled;Securing the African Marine Environment for Sustainable Development” Professor Charles Ukeje noted that harnessing and sustainable use of our oceans and seas are the key to unlocking prosperity for the economy, but that this cannot be done by NIMASA alone, but by effective planning which must cut across public and private sectors of the economy on a long term basis, including a well trained personnel.
It is a well-known fact that Africa seas and oceans are usually overlooked when it comes to issues of sustainable development in Africa, to the extent that Africa is considered to be sea blind; sea blind because there is low level awareness of the potentials for wealth creation which abounds in the seas and oceans.
This event therefore tends to show that our eyes are gradually being opened to the reality that our seas and oceans possess huge source of economic resources that can take the continent to the next level, he said.
On his part, Dr. Magnus Chidi Onuoha, who also spoke on the theme: “Harnessing Resources from Seas and Oceans for the African Youth Empowerment” identified people, prosperity and the planet as the key to sustainable development of the maritime sector in Africa and said that the marine environment is key to our survival.
Other speakers at the event led by the Chairman of the session, Mr. Norrsion Quakers, SAN unanimously called for collaborative and concerted efforts among Stakeholder in actualizing a virile maritime sector.
It may be recalled that the 22nd Ordinary Session of Heads of States and Governments adopted the 2050 AIM Strategy and its Plan of Action, including a roadmap for the incremental implementation of the strategy in line with International Maritime Law.
The strategy includes a framework for action on, inter alia: fisheries and aquaculture; environmental and biodiversity monitoring; marine tourism; disaster risk management (DRM); handling and shipment of hazardous materials and dangerous goods; maritime governance; flag state and port state control; and illegal activities, including money laundering, piracy, maritime terrorism and human trafficking and smuggling by sea.
