Nigeria will host 32 African nations for the 3rd Conference of the Association of Heads of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA) in Abuja, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, from 19th -21st of April this year.
The meeting will be hosted by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in conjunction with International Maritime Organization (IMO)
According to the Director General NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, the meeting will bring together all the major Maritime Administrators and leading stakeholders in Africa to discuss various issues and ways of improving the maritime sector in the continent.
He said that participants would also include a number of maritime stakeholder organizations around the world, adding that the IMO delegation of five will be led by Mr. Kitack Lim, Secretary General of IMO, which is a United Nations specialized agency that regulates shipping globally.
Peterside said that the Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA) was formed following the signing of the African Transport and Maritime Charter in 2012 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and that the aim of the association is to promote the Development of Africa’s maritime regulatory and maritime environment.
Peterside disclosed that the hosting of this conference in Nigeria is in line with the economic diversification agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration and the repositioning agenda of the present Management to make Nigerian maritime industry a leading light in Africa and the global maritime sector.
According to him, it will open a new vista of opportunities to the teeming unemployed youths, as well as unlock the potentials inherent in the maritime sector. This is just as the conference could serve as a platform towards Nigeria’s re-election into the IMO Council seat later in November this year.
AAMA, which brings together all players in the African maritime sector, is also an umbrella body of five African Maritime Stakeholders’ groups namely: Association of Maritime Administrations of Africa, Africa’s Ship Registry Forum, African Ship Owners Association as well as Africa Shippers’ Council and Seafarers’ Forum. [myad]
