(NPA) and the General Manager, Managing Director’s Office, Dr. Chinwe Abama, receives a present from the new Secretary General of the Port Management Association of West And Central Africa (PMAWCA), Jean-Marie Kofi in Apapa, Lagos, on Monday.
Jean Marie-Koffi of the Port of Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, on Monday, in Lagos, took over as the new Secretary-General of the Ports Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA), with a promise to foster better ties among its 22 member nations.
Koffi, at a brief handing over ceremony held at the association’s headquarters in Lagos, said that no one nation can achieve a seamless port operations without understanding the emerging trend in the sector.
The new Secretary General, who promised to consolidate on the gains of his predecessor, Augustin Fatondji of Benin Republic, noted that PMAWCA is an example of a regional co-operation, which would help member nations to share information that would help grow the region economy.
He also promised to leverage from deliberate government policies of member nations aimed at improving ports in the region.
“Successful implementation of the Code of Conduct is expected to stimulate economic development in the member states, develop sustainable port operations and promote the development of the maritime sector.
“Going forward, PMAWCA will build on what my predecessor had done and create a network for sharing port and maritime security information, intelligence gathering and information sharing as the association will seek to contribute towards the wider effort to strengthening maritime security,” he said.
He added that the future of the development of the region lies in the strengthening of its multi-modal infrastructure systems to ensure the networking of the ports to the hinterland, where massive natural and man-made wealth in resources is generated.
He said that without this coordinated linkage, the targets for growth will remain a mirage while the region standards of living will continue to remain at globally abysmal levels.
Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, while congratulating the newly elected PMAWCA scribe, assured of full cooperation by the authority to achieving the association’s set objectives.
“We equally committed ourselves from the outset to contribute to the improvement in the quality of services of our port activities and services of our members in order to promote the sustainable socio-economic development of our countries and the sub-region.
“We also told ourselves that we would contribute to the improvement, coordination and harmonization of equipment and services offered by our members in addition to establishing and consolidating on our partnership relations with associations, institutions or organizations working in the Transport and Maritime Trade sector,” Usman, who was represented at the election by the General Manager, MD’s office, Dr. Chinwe Abama said.