Col. Andre D. Ciseau

Ag. Directing General, Kenya Maritime Authority and Chair of the Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA)

Dear Partners and Delegates, Over the last three years, the world has seen and experienced a serious disruption in the economic growth and development of countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing the deepest recession since World War II. Again, the world economy faced yet another danger of high inflation and slow growth, owing to the world economic downturns.

Looking beyond the pandemic and current geopolitical tensions, creating jobs and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals will therefore, require strong, inclusive and sustainable growth in Africa. Additionally, lifting potential growth also requires leveraging the full potential of the Private Sector.

With the recent go ahead on the operationalization of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), it is believed that, this will be key in boosting regional growth and competitiveness. To fully realize the benefits of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), we must all critically address the need to finance and develop adequate infrastructure and services in Africa to support maritime connectivity, as this is an important determinant of the trade costs.

The pandemic exposed the limits to globalization and led to countries developing different initiatives to enhance maritime connectivity in their regions, one being on the establishment of a regional maritime Cabotage and Short-sea shipping. This has equally been highlighted on various platforms as a driver of promoting intra-Africa trade. The Africa Maritime Transport Charter 2010 (AMTC) also highlights the importance of Trans-Africa Cabotage in promoting intra-Africa trade and facilitate the economic and socio-economic integration of the continent.

It is with this regard that, the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA) in collaboration with the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA), Intergovernmental Standing Committee on Shipping (ISCOS) and the State Department for Shipping and Maritime Affairs – Kenya, is convening the ‘Africa Maritime Cabotage and Blue Economy Conference 2023’ on 8th and 10th November 2023 in Mombasa. Under the Theme: ‘Unlocking the AfCFTA potential by rethinking Maritime Cabotage and Blue Economy for improved connectivity’, we believe that this forum will impact greatly on policy dialogues on regional maritime Cabotage as well as identification of the concrete approaches and initiatives for promoting and accelerating trade, for economic and socio-economic development.

We also believe that the forum will create a platform whereby the various exhibitors can display their products, thereby facilitating trade and creating business opportunities through networking.

I hereby welcome you all to collaborate and support the inaugural ‘Africa Maritime Cabotage and Blue Economy Conference 2023’, in order to realize the above goals