Encourage investment in Shipping - ECOWAS members told

Accra (Greater Accra), 5 March, '99 -

Governments in the West Africa sub region have been urged to encourage investment in the shipping sector. Participants at a conference on transportation, co-operation and development within ECOWAS in Accra yesterday also called for incentives for local investors in the sector to make them more competitive in the face of economic liberalisation. They stressed that investment in the shipping sub-sector is lucrative and noted with concern that shipping lines in the sub- region continue to fold up as a result of privatisation. They said that the absence of a coastal network in West Africa is hampering shipping and transportation and deplored the lukewarm attitude of ECOWAS members in implementing the protocols of the organisation. According to them, this has affected the movement of people and goods. The participants called for the establishment of a Shipping Inspectorate Division within ECOWAS to facilitate transportation in the sub-region. Mr Magnus Teye Addico, Secretary General of the Ministerial Conference of West and Central African States on Maritime Transport, said that a round voyage could earn millions of dollars for the operator. He expressed concern about pollution and maritime safety and said foreign vessels pollute the West African coast through the washing and dumping of harmful materials into the sea Mr Ibra Birane Wane, General Manager of Air Afrique, Ghana said ECOWAS countries cannot afford to liberalise their airlines and called for their integration. He said while ECOWAS has intensified efforts to integrate the economies of member countries, almost all of them have agreements which run parallel to that of the organisation.