Africa must turn marine advantages into economic prosperity, says NPA MD

Abubakar Dantsoho, president of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA), says Africa must urgently convert its marine comparative advantages into economic opportunities for collective prosperity.

Dantsoho, who is also the managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), spoke on Monday at the PMAWCA board of directors and ports statisticians network meetings in Luanda, Angola.

He said seaports hold the key to Africa’s sustainability, adding that countries in the west and central African sub-region are bound not only by water but also by shared challenges and opportunities.

“The need to translate our marine comparative advantages into opportunities for the collective prosperity of our respective countries has never been more pressing than it is now,” Dantsoho said.

“We must not lose sight of the fact that the demonstrated global leadership of ports in the contributions to the sustainable development goals (SDGs), shows that the sustainability of the world especially Africa rests heavily on the sustainability of our ports.

“Apart from being linked by water, countries in West and Central Africa are linked by challenges and opportunities and with the increasing realisation of the leverage that economic cooperation confers in the international arena, we will be doing great disservice to ourselves if we fail to maximise this unity through intensified collaboration of our ports.”

According to the NPA managing director, data is a key enabler of effective decision-making in port management.

‘TINUBU HAS MADE IMPLEMENTATION OF MARINE ECONOMY PLANS EASIER’

He commended President Bola Tinubu for creating the federal ministry of marine and blue economy, saying the move has made it easier to pursue ambitious reforms in the sector.

“The administration of his excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made the implementation of our audacious plans easier with the visionary creation of the new ministry of marine and blue economy which has re-energised our resolve to invest more in sector-specific talent development order to harness more ideas from operational think tanks such as the PMAWCA,” he said.

Dantsoho said the statisticians’ network is also helping expand training opportunities across member ports, which is crucial as ports move towards full automation through the port community system (PCS) and the national single window (NSW).

The NPA boss added that the efforts must go hand in hand with greater regional economic integration among PMAWCA member states.

“The specific objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which includes the progressive elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in goods, liberalisation of trade in services and cooperation amongst others is pregnant with a lot of opportunities for wealth creation and prosperity,” he said.

Dantsoho added that the board of directors’ meeting will review the outcomes of PMAWCA’s 2024 activities, assess its recommendations and budget, and set the strategic direction for the association going forward.