President of Women in Maritime of West and Central Africa (WIMOWCA), Sylvia Asana Dauda Owu, has called for the development of the necessary legal and institutional framework to ensure the sustainable development of ports.

Mrs. Owu said this would ensure that shipping meets targets in its decarbonization agenda as set out by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) by 2050.

She made the call during a three-day seminar on maritime sustainability organized by the Network of Professional Women in Maritime and Ports Sectors of West and Central Africa (NPWMP-WCA), an arm of the Ports Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA).

The theme for the seminar was “PMAWCA ports facing the challenges of sustainable development: status and prospects.”

She said the development of the framework would require collective effort in line with the provisions of the African Maritime Charter, adding that inclusive participation and diversity were key to achieving the objective of ensuring sustainable ports in West and Central Africa.

She noted that the efficiency of a port directly affected the economies of the countries it served, as more than 80 percent of global trade was done by sea, and therefore, the sustainability of shipping and port development was crucial for the future of the maritime industry.

The WIMOWCA President said IMO had identified sustainable development of the maritime industry as one of its core objectives, indicating that the future of shipping was at stake given the effects of climate change on the world ocean.

“For Africa, this is the time to begin a serious effort to ensure sustainability in our maritime domain,” she said, adding that to achieve this, the continent must come up with effective measures to ensure investments in clean technologies for shipping.

She said the use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), sustainable ports, and environmentally friendly measures should be adopted by Africa to reduce the impact of shipping, stressing that the decarbonization of Africa’s maritime sector should be given urgent attention.

She said this would require training and capacity building for various stakeholders to ensure coherence in the policies and a successful decarbonization of the maritime industry in Africa.