WMU : Alumni Contribute to Ghana’s National Integrated Maritime Strategy Implementation Plan

From 14-16 July, stakeholders of the Blue Economy met in Koforidua, Ghana to develop an implementation plan that will give full effect to the national integrated maritime strategy addressing challenges along the country’s 540km coastline. Three WMU PhD graduates played integral roles in the workshop.

The Centre for Maritime Law and Security (CEMLAWS) Africa, was awarded a grant by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Danish government to support the development and implementation of Ghana’s national integrated maritime strategy under the Security Governance Initiative (SGI) and Joint Country Action Plan (JCAP).

The maritime strategy is anchored on effective ocean governance and investments in the blue economy, which seeks to provide Ghanaians with a comprehensive and viable roadmap towards ensuring the safety and security of Ghana’s maritime domain. The strategy further presents an integrated and coherent approach towards addressing emerging maritime threats, thereby improving the efficiency and effectiveness of efforts and actions amongst all relevant actors.

WMU alumni who contributed to the workshop included Dr Kofi Mbiah (WMU PhD 2011), former CEO of the Ghana Shippers Authority who is a Maritime Law Consultant to CEMLAWS; Dr Bryan Buxton-Barnor (WMU PhD 2020) from Ghana who was a Programme Moderator and is an Ocean Governance Advisor to CEMLAWS; and Dr Anastasia Eruaga Osatohanmwen (WMU PhD 2019) from Nigeria who was a Programme Moderator and is a UNODC Consultant.

With 5,392 alumni from 170 countries and territories, the WMU network has a global impact on the maritime and ocean sectors. WMU’s PhD programme offers students the opportunity to carry out research across the maritime field, with an emphasis on issues related to the International Maritime Organization’s mission, including with respect to maritime safety, security and environmental protection.

The programme offers unrivalled access to international maritime experts both inside and outside academia, and to organizations working at the forefront of research and development