Programme Director
eThekwini Deputy Mayor Mr Logie Naidoo
Acting Director-General of Transport Mr Mahlalela
AU Director of Infrastructure and Energy Mr Baba Moussa
Distinguished guests
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
In 2007 we met in the Republic of Nigeria in Abuja and decided that to push the maritime sector to the forefront of Africa's economic development we need to draft the African Charter on maritime.
This gathering is a collection of the brains of brains in the maritime sector in Africa. You are tasked with the responsibility of finalising the charter for the maritime sector in Africa. Based on your work, on Friday as Ministers we will be able to adopt the charter which will help us respond to the following challenges:
* African Economic integration
* Employment creation
* Black Economic Empowerment
* Women Empowerment
Economic integration
Some of us in this room have dealt with public transport. It is inconceivable that a taxi could pick up passengers in Johannesburg and drop them off in Durban where we are today and then pick up another group and take them on to Cape Town. It is inconceivable that that same taxi could pick up from Cape to Windhoek in Namibia. In the maritime sector this is the practice where international vessels pick up cargo and drop it off on African ports along our coastlines. Cabotage is therefore a policy instrument which we want to employ to turn these unequal terms of trade around.
The bulk of Africa's trade is seaborne, yet we do not control it. For example in South Africa 98% of our global trade is conducted through the sea, yet we do not control it. We need to move towards greater control of this important part of our economy through ownership and increased investment. This is one way in which we can increase the slice of African business along our coastlines.
Economic integration remains one of the requirements for us to move out of being a developing continent to being a developed continent. Economic integration means finding common ground on a bilateral and multi lateral basis for common purpose activities.
Training and employment creation
Training and capacity building remains a key strategic area if we are to increase our competitiveness over time and take our place among the maritime nations of the world.
If 2010 is the year of the seafarer, this must be our rallying call for the future. The training of more seafarers will help us increase the number of people who enter the maritime sector. The increase in number and quality will ensure that we continue to play a role internationally in this global sector. At present there is an estimated shortage of hundreds of thousands of seafarers for our people across the world to move into.
In 1988 the IMO launched the integration of women in the maritime sector programme. We also had the International Women of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the Women in East and Southern Africa (MESA). The objective of the charter is to ensure that we get closer to achieving these objectives.
In order to grow the maritime industry we must deal with the perception that the industry is not attractive to young people. The industry itself also has a challenge to address this perception. But in addition government has to create a conducive climate for the entry of more young people into the industry.
Safety
Maritime safety and security remains the key foundation for a sustainable industry. For the fact that the industry is international in nature, matters of safety and security are regulated through international conventions.
The state of maritime safety and security in Africa should remain the key focus during this conference and in the future. This is because we cannot grow an industry through domestic and international investment unless it is safe and secure.
One of the most challenging issued at the moment is the recent increase in piracy incidents off the coast of Somalia. This is one example of an area which will never be resolved unless there is co-operation and co-ordination between interested parties.
Our respective governments should make a clear commitment both in terms of human and financial resources to realise the objectives of the Plan of Action. The maritime sector remains one of the key engines for economic growth in Africa but will not move forward without active government support.
Safety
Maritime safety and security remains the key foundation for a sustainable industry. For the fact that the industry is international in nature, matters of safety and security are regulated through international conventions.
The state of maritime safety and security in Africa should remain the key focus during this conference and in the future. This is because we cannot grow an industry through domestic and international investment unless it is safe and secure.
One of the most challenging issued at the moment is the recent increase in piracy incidents off the coast of Somalia. This is one example of an area which will never be resolved unless there is cooperation and coordination between interested parties.
The current efforts co-ordinated by the IMO to deal with this scourge demonstrate that we can only address this challenge if we work together. As maritime experts in Africa you need to deliberate on how best our continent can make a meaningful input into these efforts.
The charter must map out a vision for the maritime sector in Africa. We must use this sector to move Africa from a developing continent to a developed continent.
We must emerge from this conference with a clear vision for an Africa that plays its rightful role in the world.
Your deliberations should therefore achieve the following:
* the finalisation of the text of the African Maritime Charter
* the review of the Abuja Plan of Action
All this we must address and we want results in two years time.
In closing let us say this; the success of this gathering depends on your expertise and experience. It is you who must help us change Africa from a developing continent to a developed continent. It is through you, the brains of brains of brains of African maritime that we in Africa will change the world.
I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Transport
