10 November 2009
Nairobi — Africa is moving towards a united maritime transport charter that can build trade capacity and provide a joint approach to industry threats such as piracy.
This follows the adoption of the African Maritime Transport Charter at the second African Union conference of ministers responsible for maritime transport in Durban, South Africa.
Kenya Maritime Authority director general Nancy Karigithu said the adoption would boost the maritime sector in Africa and propel the continent towards world class shipping and trade standards.
"As a continent we must take the firm view that we cannot talk maritime transport outside of economic development and growth of the sector," she said in a statement.
Waking giant
"The maritime transport sector in Africa is a giant that is waking up. African maritime transport has the capacity to grow our economies and create millions of jobs."
Mrs Karigithu said that in East Africa the industry contributes to about 95 per cent of the total international trade.
The conference expressed concern over the increase in acts of piracy and armed robbery perpetrated against ships off the coast of Somalia and in the gulfs of Aden as well as Guinea.
Also discussed were the effects of pollution of the marine environment by unscrupulous vessel operators.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
