To ensure that the resolutions reached at the recent Africa shipping and oil roundtable investment forum are implemented, a ten member working committee has been set up.
Tagged ‘African Maritime Advocacy Committee’ (AMAC), the committee formation was one of the resolutions reached at the forum, which took place in Cape Town, South Africa.
Attended by shipping and energy practitioners across the African continent, the event was organised by the Africa Business and Logistics Support Service (ABALSS) as an avenue to network and harmonise strategies on the way forward for the two critical sectors in the economy.
Membership of the committee, drawn from key players in the two sectors across Africa, was one of the highpoints of the roundtable and investment forum with the theme Global Partnership for the Sustainability of Infrastructural Development of the Maritime and Energy Sectors in Africa.
The committee members are expected to draw up resolutions from the conference and draw up a framework for their implementation in countries across the African continent.
The committee, which has already had its inaugural meeting, was also expected to come up with strategies for its funding besides setting up a secretariat to serve as a rallying point for its members.
The ten-member implementation committee has the Chief Operations Officer, South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), Mr. Sobantu Tilayi, as its Chairman, while the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ghana Shippers Authority (GHSA), Mr. Emmanuel Martey is the Secretary; and the Project Director, ABALSS, Mrs. Remilekun Rasaq, Assistant Secretary.
The Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Maritime Services, Mr. Olugbenga Oyewole; Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi; and the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Alhaji Habib Abdullahi, are other members of the committee.
Other members are the Executive Director, South Africa Oil and Gas Alliance, Mr. Mthozami Xiphu; Managing Director and CEO, Starzs Investment Company Limited, Mr. Greg Ogbeifun; National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, and the CEO Adviser on Commercial Affairs, Port of Luanda, Angola.
Members of AMAC are expected to follow up on the key decisions reached by participants at the shipping and energy investment forum, to ensure that they are fully implemented across the African continent. Following the inaugural meeting of the committee on the sideline of the forum in Cape Town, further meetings are expected to take place in the months ahead.
It is expected that the next forum, which is expected to hold at Colorado Convention Centre, Denver, USA, from July 28 to 31, 2014, will serve as a rallying point for participants to compare notes on the next line of action for the shipping and the energy sectors of countries across Africa.
Several papers were presented at the forum, which attracted participants from the all over the continent, including Harnessing Opportunities in the Maritime Industry to boost Infrastructural Development in Africa by Oyewole while Akpobolokemi presented a paper titled Boosting Rapid Infrastructural Development for the Effective Implementation of Cabotage Regime in Africa, Abdullahi presented a paper on Providing Essential Infrastructure and Workable Strategies to Overcome the Challenges of Ports Quick Turnaround of Time in Africa; Martey presented a paper on Protection Surveillance, Security of Coastal Waters in Africa; and Mokhele made a presentation on How to meet Infrastructural needs of the Maritime Transport in Africa for Greater Investment Opportunities.
The event also witnessed the presentation of the African Maritime and Energy (AME) 2013 awards to 12 recipients across the African continent.
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