Ebrima Sillah, the minister for Transport, Works and Infrastructure has been recently appointed as the first vice chairperson of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa known as (MOWCA), during its 18th Ordinary Session recently held in Brazzaville Congo.

Speaking at the event, Minister Sillah said that the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa has since begun a transformative process and has registered significant milestones during the past 12 months.

He said the challenges facing the organisation are multifaceted and includes inadequate financial resources to acute human capacity problems which are key to effectively running the programmes of MOWCA, stating that the commitment of members must be amplified to register meaningful success for the regional body that is aiming to transform into a continental maritime organisation.

"Nearly half a century when the founding fathers of this august maritime body set for its noble objective of serving as an inter-governmental sub-regional platform for sectorial cooperation in the field of maritime transport which has become more relevant today, its members can only boast of little achievement. This is indeed sad, and time has now become expedient for the organization's membership to redouble their efforts both in terms of honouring financial contributions and commitment to participate in statutory meetings and other important matters in pursuit of MOWCA's transformative agenda," he said.

According to Minister Sillah, it would be remiss not to mention the huge potential that our combined maritime domain offers which he said remains highly untapped, from the exploitation of marine resources to the creation of coastal shipping services and employment.