Michael James 27 June 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos – The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, is set to provide support to the Ghana Maritime Authority, GMA, under a proposed Memorandum of Understanding , MoU, between the two agencies.
GMA officials, led by its Director General, Mr. Kwame Owusu, were in Nigera recently, seeking assistance and collaboration to grow their country’s maritime industry.
Speaking during a visit to NIMASA, Owusu said: “We are here to strengthen the bilateral relationships that exist between both countries and to learn international best practices from you”.
He said the delegation from Ghana came to learn and share part of the experience of NIMASA so as to replicate that in their country.
The areas where the two agencies planed to collaborate under the MOU are regular knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer, capacity building initiatives and cabotage implementation/enforcement processes.
Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, informed the GMA team that in order for NIMASA to actualise its mandates which cuts across shipping development, maritime safety and security, maritime labour services, amongst others, the agency was currently repositioning and rebranding for greater efficiency, geared towards realising a virile maritime sector in line with global best practices.
“We have taken a number of initiatives to reform, restructure and reposition the organisation. What we have now is not what we have always had. A lot has changed over time and you will get to learn from our own experience the life we lived and is still living,” he said.