The rhetoric of harnessing the potentials in Africa’s vast maritime environment has been a major point of discourse by political leaders, economists and even technocrats. The time has come to move from this rhetoric to actually implementing deliberate and strategic programmes that will turn around the fortunes of African economies through the maritime industry.
This will not happen unless an African grown solution to the myriad of challenges facing the industry is developed and effectively implemented by Africans through what I will refer to as Intra-African Partnerships.
For the first time in its history, Nigeria, my neighbour and brother will be hosting all the heads of Maritime Administrations in Africa under the auspices of the Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA) in a conference that will hold from April 19 – 21, 2017.
The conference, which 33 countries have confirmed their attendance, will seek a home-grown solution to developing the African maritime industry which is vastly gifted.
Africa is endowed with a lot of natural resources including those in maritime. Out of the 54 countries in Africa, 39 are either littoral or island states.
Africa’s economic development is to a reasonable extent tied to the optimal utilisation of its maritime resources. Apart from the fact that some African countries like our host Nigeria have huge deposits of hydro-carbons or other resources in commercial quantities in their maritime domain, most of these countries depend largely on the maritime environment for their imports and exports.
Besides, Africa is also blessed with a wide expanse of arable land generating primary raw materials that is constantly being exported. Indeed the continent has capacity for cargo generation which is sadly lifted, almost exclusively by foreign vessels.
The time to therefore change the narrative is now. Africa must optimally utilise her maritime resources to kick start the renewal of the continent for the benefit of Africans.
Of course there are challenges that have impacted negatively on the African maritime industry. Piracy and sea robbery has to a large extent vitiated the continent’s capacity to develop her maritime industry. Two of the three main global piracy hot spots are in Africa: Gulf of Aden (off the coast of Somalia) and Gulf of Guinea (off Nigeria’s coast). The other being the Straits of Malacca.
It is difficult to state exactly the cost maritime nations have suffered due to piracy and related incidents. The reputational damage associated with it cannot even be quantified in monetary terms.
African leaders under the auspices of the African Union (AU) have developed the 2050 African Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS) to deal with the sustainable exploitation of maritime resources as well as maritime security.
Regional blocks have also developed diverse security strategies aimed at eradicating the scourge of piracy and sea robbery. The onus therefore is on implementing authorities which is effectively the Maritime Administrations and the Navies, to collaborate with a view to tackling the menace.
In South East Asia for instance, some countries along the Straits of Malacca viz Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have adopted a comprehensive approach to maritime security encompassing safety, port security to even marine pollution. They signed a “Statement on Cooperation against Piracy and Threats to Maritime Security” at the 13th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Cambodia in June 2003.
This partnership has considerably reduced the incidents of piracy and criminal activities in the region.
Even the European Union (EU) had adopted a strategy of integration driven by a different need in order to focus on safety and security of passage, competitiveness, climate change and environmental degradation in a document called Integrated Maritime Policy for EU.
Africa therefore needs to align her strategies taking Africa as a whole because these policies will succeed if they are interlinked and pursued in an integrated manner. In all cases the programme should be implemented at the departmental level which is the Maritime Administration.
Africa also lacks the requisite infrastructural and human capacity to control its maritime industry. Foreign vessels and crew are still a common sight in many countries owing mainly to the huge capital requirement for fleet development and expansion.
As Nigeria hosts the AAMA Conference, expectations are high that Africa will begin the journey to occupy its rightful place in the comity of global maritime sector. Nigeria our host nation has done well especially in most recent times in managing its maritime space. It has sustained the fight against piracy in Nigerian waters and in the Gulf of Guinea leading to a reduction in incidents.
Partnering with the Nigeria Navy on the one hand and the Nigerian Air Force on the other, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has sustained sea patrols and aerial surveillance of the Nigerian maritime domain leading to a drastic reduction in piracy and sea robbery incidents.
With the NIMASA Satellite Surveillance facility, vessel activity in and around the country’s coast can be viewed in real time and any illegal activity detected. When I served as CEO of Ghana Maritime Authority we collaborated in many ways and shared information which proved most useful.
Worthy of mention is that Nigerian Navy has also built a robust surveillance equipment called the FALCON EYE that is capable of detecting vessel activity in real time even beyond the shores of Nigeria into the Gulf of Guinea.
In terms of human capacity development, we have always known that Nigeria is leading the pack in Africa, currently training over 2500 seafarers in the fields of Nautical Sciences, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering in some of the best training institutions in Africa, Europe and Asia.
Some of these young Nigerians have already done their sea time experience which is a prerequisite to earning a Certificate of Competency (CoC). I am privileged to know that arrangements have been concluded to provide these young cadets the mandatory sea time experience.
There is a global shortfall in seafarers for which Nigeria like other sub Saharan Africa countries is not exempt and it is hoped that these young ones will be fully engaged upon qualification thereby reducing the unemployment rate and contributing positively to the development of the industry in Nigeria particularly and Africa as a whole . IAM excited about plans by Nigeria to float a national fleet driven by the private sector. It is obviously a step in the right direction.
Another remarkable accomplishment under NIMASA’s promotional function is the Modular Floating Dock which is the fifth largest in Africa that should be used to maintain vessels in-country and stop the capital flight occasioned by vessel maintenance abroad. Nigeria is privileged to have several oil Indo support vessel which will generate a lot of activities for the floating dock. It is expected that the Floating Dock will generate around $100m annually and employ over 100 personnel directly once it becomes operational.
The Modular Floating Dock will not only be limited to job creation or conservation of foreign exchange but will include capacity building and wealth creation in the industry. Apart from South Africa, very little capacity exist in Africa to cater to the maintenance needs of vessels.
With an average of 5000 ships calling Nigerian ports annually, 400 active coastal vessels and several fishing trawlers, the demand for ship repair and maintenance facilities can only be on the rise.
Even the confirmation of attendance of 33 countries to this year’s AAMA conference in Nigeria points to the renewed interest of the shipping world in Nigeria. This is a proud moment for Nigeria. This will be the first time this number of countries will be attending any AAMA conference. The last time the conference was held in South Africa, only 22 countries attended.
There is therefore no better opportunity to re-invent the African maritime industry than now when awareness of the importance of the industry to the economic and even military impact on African nations has reached a crescendo.
Whilst support can be sought from foreign partners, Africa must take ownership and control of its maritime resources taking into cognisance the peculiar realities of its people. African maritime industry cannot develop if it is continually outsourced to foreigners. The need for adequate mechanisms for maritime governance is therefore non-negotiable.
Africa must therefore set the agenda and follow it through. Any foreign partner willing to collaborate with Africa must situate this partnership within the strategy already developed. It is our job as Africans and maritime regulators to do and together under the canopy of AAMA, we will set a new agenda.
Peter Azuma
Dr. Peter Azuma, a former Director General of Ghana Maritime Authority is of Africa – America Maritime Energy network
