The Ministry of Transport and the CNSC take part in the first regional conference on global best practices in vessel clearance

Friday, 20 January 2023, marked the end of the first regional conference on global best practices in vessel clearance at ports. Hosted by the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), the event was co-organised by the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) and the Convention on Business Integrity (CBi) Nigeria with support from the World Maritime University (WMU) and the Danish cooperation through the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), as part of its 2019-2022 global anti-corruption programme.

The conference was chaired by the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in the presence of the Ambassador of Denmark to Ghana, H.E. Tom Norring. Representatives from other countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo and Cameroon, equally took part in the event. The Cameroonian delegation consisted of officials from the Ministry of Transport and the Cameroon National Shippers' Council.

The purpose of this conference was to promote collaboration between public and private sector actors in order to strengthen the culture of integrity in ports, owing to an OECD study that classified the transport sector as the second most affected by corruption in the world. Still tied to the subject, the World Bank estimates that USD 1.5 trillion is paid as bribes each year, or 2% of the world's GDP, which is about 10 times the amount of official development assistance.

The conference aimed at sharing best practices with public and private sector stakeholders in the West and Central Africa sub-region. To this end, two panel discussions were held with professionals from the sub-region, followed by a training session organised by WMU. The discussions focused on the need to take advantage of the blue economy to make the most of the opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Speaking on this subject, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark opined that the AfCFTA is a historic opportunity to create a safe and efficient transport system in Africa. Against this background, the experts examined best practices for improving competitiveness in ports through the optimisation of procedures carried out via a Single Window platform. The need for digitalisation, port performance and the extension of competitiveness along transport corridors also featured on the agenda.

Cameroon was privileged to be part of the panel discussing the opportunities of the AfCFTA for maritime transport and trade facilitation mechanisms. This was followed by a seminar with presentations by WMU Professors on strategies to overcome corrupt practices in the maritime sector and on vessel control and inspection. Attendees received participation certificates and name badges at the end of the conference, and look forward to the next edition in a French-speaking country.