Western and Central Africa

The European Union is funding a € [2]1.2 million grant contract,

signed between IMO and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of

States (ACP) to support training and capacity-building activities aimed

at enhancing flag State implementation and port State control in Western

and Central Africa, with a view to upgrading the region’s maritime

administrations and preparing its States for the mandatory IMO audit

scheme.

IMO will be executing the two-year programme, identifying the individual

countries’ needs in terms of enhancing their capacity to carry out

their flag State responsibilities. There will also be a focus on port

State control, such as training for ship inspectors, in order to support

the functioning of the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control

for West and Central African Region (Abuja MoU), which is an

inter-governmental organization comprising the maritime administrations

of countries abutting the Atlantic coast of Africa.

It is anticipated that the project will lead to the maritime

Administrations being audited in accordance with the IMO Audit Scheme,

which is expected to become mandatory in 2016 following the adoption and

entry into force of amendments to the relevant IMO instruments. The

focus of the capacity-building activities will be on compliance with the

IMO Instruments Implementation Code (III Code), which provides the

global standard to enable States to meet their obligations as flag, port

and coastal States.

It is also expected that the projects will result in enhancing the

effectiveness of the Abuja MoU on port State control.

The overall support programme for the maritime transport sector is

intended to contribute towards Africa’s economic growth, connectivity

and the promotion of regional integration, and will seek to complement

other maritime transport programmes on the continent. Although it has a

strong focus on Western and Central Africa, it may also be extended to

other ACP regions..

The contract was signed on 10 March by IMO, the ACP Secretariat and the

European Commission, with a start date for implementation on 15 March

2014. It reflects the joint EU-Africa Strategic Partnership [3] adopted

in Lisbon in December 2007, which calls for capacity-building in the

fields of safety standards and regulations.

It is also in line with the African Union’s Maritime Charter and the

2050 Africa's Integrated Maritime Strategy (2050 AIM-Strategy [4]) that

was developed with the collaboration of IMO and formally adopted by the

22nd African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government on 31

January 2014 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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IMO – the International Maritime Organization – is the United

Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and

security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.