Abuja to host African maritime meeting

The Sub-Regional Standing Committee meeting on maritime transport in West and Central Africa has been scheduled to hold in Abuja later in September.

It is being organised by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and the Union of African Shippers’ Councils (UASC) in collaboration with United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The Director, Special Duties in NSC, Mr Ignatius Nweke, made this known in Lagos that the event would hold between Sept. 25 and 26 in Abuja.

He said that the theme of the workshop is: “Port Concession in West and Central Africa; Impact on Economies of Member States of the Sub-region”.

He said that the event was targeted at governments of member states, international and regional organisations and other stakeholders in the Trade and Transport facilitation process in the West and Central Africa Sub-region.

“Among other objectives, the workshop is expected to appraise the state of maritime transportation in West and Central African viz-a-viz other regions of the world and proffer solutions to challenges facing the sector.

“Assess the implementation of World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and issues relating to port operations.

“Advocate the development and maintenance of criticial trade support facilities/infrastructure that will promote efficiency, competition and cost reduction in the carriage of goods as well as linkages to other markets.

“Similarly, the workshop would look at the state of maritime transport in West and Central Africa: UNCTAD’s viewpoint; for boosting Intra-African Trade; charges, surcharges and related costs of carriage of goods.

“Also evaluation of International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Container Weighing regime Verified Gross Mass (VAM) and impact on shipping services/business,” Nweke said in a statement.

According to him, UASC, as a specialised organ of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), comprises 19 shippers’ councils.

Nweke said that the UASC with its headquarters in Douala, Cameroun, comprises three main organs; The General Assembly, Steering Committee and the General Secretariat.

Nweke said the UASC became a member of the Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF) in September 2010 and maintained close relations with other international organisations, notably; World Trade Organisation (WTO), IMO and the World Customs Organisation (WCO).

UASC is also a member of the United Nations Commission for International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and UNCTAD.

He, however, said that NSC, over the years, under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Transportation hosted the sub-regional workshop on the reduction of the incidence of transport costs on the economies of West and Central African Countries.