The Chairman of the Association of African Maritime Administration (AAMA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has stated that the maritime sector is crucial to the growth and development of the African economy.

The AAMA Chairman stated this when the Secretary General of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Ambassador Alain Michel Luvambano, paid him a courtesy visit in Lagos. He said that regional co-operation is required in order to achieve all the goals of the Lome Charter and the African Integrated Maritime (AIM) Strategy, geared towards repositioning the sector in Africa, in order to allow it compete favourably with its counterparts in the other continents.

“Maritime is a sure source of growing our economy and from the highest point of government we are talking about blue economy; it is also our goal to realise the dream of our leaders aimed at the development of the maritime sector in Africa and collaboration is the key to realising it,” the AAMA Chairman said.

Dr. Peterside, who is also the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), assured the Secretary General of MOWCA that AAMA will continue to champion the course of revitalising the African maritime sector through various forms of collaboration and will support MOWCA since both bodies have similar objectives and shared vision of realising a prosperous Africa through its maritime resources.

Speaking earlier, the Secretary General of MOWCA who was accompanied by the Technical Director of the organisation, Colonel Mariko Mamadou expressed gratitude to the AAMA Chair for the support the organisation has been receiving from the association.

He further stated that MOWCA as an organisation is seeking collaboration with AAMA, stating that both bodies have similar mandates of contributing to the economic growth and the development of the maritime administrations on the African space.

Accordingly, he said: “Promotion of the sector is based on performance and Nigeria is seen to be taking the lead in the region, hence the need to cooperate and partner together. Also, every other continent is getting united and it is good for Africa to also get united so that we can be a formidable force to be reckoned with in the comity of maritime nations.”

AAMA is the umbrella body of heads of maritime administrations in Africa with the sole aim of working together to reposition the maritime sector in Africa in line with global best practices.

Dr. Dakuku Peterside, who was appointed to Chair the body during the 3rd AAMA Conference hosted by Nigeria in 2017, has continued to champion the cause for the growth and development of the continent through collaboration with relevant international bodies.