Bello-Koko

First Vice President of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa PMAWCA, Mohammed Bello- Koko has expressed appreciation to the 24-member countries that attended the four-day conference hosted by Nigeria in Lagos.

In a post on his verified X handle @MohdBelloKoko, the PMAWCA First Vice President, who doubles as Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority NPA, while delivering closing remarks at the event, also expressed appreciation of the NPA team, which worked tirelessly to make the event a huge success.

He said: “Bringing over 350 delegates from 24 African countries, with about 10 Managing Directors of African Ports, wasn’t going to be an easy task.

“All thanks to the support team from medicals, IT, ushers, the transport unit of the Nigerian Ports Authority, the media, and the larger organising committee. We appreciate everyone’s support in every little way.

“It was an intense four days of hosting the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa. The everyday activities were draining—usually from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. But, we are grateful for a successful conference.”

A high point of the four-day event was an enlarged board of directors meeting of the sub-regional port body to review new projects, financial statements, and a whole range of PMAWCA’s initiatives for the next year.

It also received the reports of the different technical committees held in May and reviewed the PMAWCA statutes and internal regulations.

All the reports from the technical committees are expected to be would be harmonised and the resolutions adopted that will serve as a guide for the progress of the West and Central African Port Authorities.

The First Vice President had while speaking earlier, charged African countries, especially member-states of PMAWCA to begin to translate their marine comparative advantages to opportunities for the continent as a whole.

Delivering an opening remarks at the launch of the PMAWCA Annual Conference and Managing Directors Roundtable, alongside the Minister of Marine & Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, the First Vice President noted that there was urgent need for Africa to translate her marine comparative advantages into opportunities for the collective prosperity of the respective countries within the region.

 He noted that the proper running of the seaports not only within the sub-region but also across the globe would play crucial role in the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals SDGs.

“There is the need to translate Africa’s marine comparative advantages into opportunities for the collective prosperity of our respective countries.

“The demonstrated global leadership of ports in their contributions to the SDGs shows that the sustainability of the world, especially Africa, rests heavily on the sustainability of our ports.

“Apart from being linked by their coastlines, countries in West and Central Africa also shares similar challenges and opportunities, given 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 the cooperation of our seaports.

“The specific objectives of African Continental Free Trade Agreement AfCFTA, which include the progressive elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in goods, liberalisation of trade in services, and cooperation, among others, are pregnant with a lot of opportunities for wealth creation and prosperity, and I am convinced this conference will equip us to safely midwife for the benefit of our respective national economies with a domino effect on the economy of the sub-region if our ports cooperate”,