The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, has commended the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMWCA) for continually serving as a multilateral organ.
In a statement signed by the NPA’S General Manager Strategic and Corporate Communication, Abdullahi Goje, the MD said the PMWCA served as a vehicle for regional cooperation amongst ports in West and Central Africa and also, as a tool to actualize the dreams of the African Union (AU) as well as the objectives of the New Partnership for African’s Development (NEPAD).
Hadiza gave the commendation in her welcome address to delegates of the PMWCA Technical Committee Meeting which held at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos.
She described PMWCA as a channel for the attainment of regional integration through consensus building on issues of maritime development and a platform for the exchange of information and expertise for synergy in the field of Port Operations, Administration, Legal Framework, Security and the safety of Navigation within the Gulf of Guinea.
The Managing Director assured PMWCA of the Authority’s continuous support in its programmes aimed at actualizing its mandate in the sub-region.
According to her: “Given the enormous potentials of the maritime sector on the continent and the significant role that Nigeria plays in the actualization of these potentials, the current management of the Nigerian Ports Authority is committed to supporting PMCWA as well as in the introduction innovations that would redirect the maritime industry in the continent to attain international best practices”
She said that the Agency would continue to pursue excellence through the automation of operational processes, partnering with the private sector for channel maintenance and infrastructural development and collaborating with sister agencies and stakeholders to build a Port Community System.
Hadiza also urged the body to devise ways to pilot the sub-region to take full advantage of trading opportunities by encouraging private sector involvement in the provision of port facilities as well as the pursuit of innovations that will bring the ports to international standards.
In his remarks, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, told the delegates that the Nigerian government is determined to turnaround the Nigerian economy, highlighting the strategic role Nigeria plays in ports development in the Gulf of Guinea and the sub-region.
