Osinbajo calls for synergy among African states to boost blue economy By NAN

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Osinbajo calls for synergy among African states to boost blue economy By NAN

Osinbajo made the call in his keynote address at the 4th African Deep Seabed Resources (ADSR) Workshop on Wednesday in Abuja.

The workshop was organised by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in collaboration with the Federal Government, African Union (AU) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD).

Osinbajo said that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provided for all nations to explore and exploit mineral resources on the seabed beyond national jurisdiction for benefit of mankind.

“Notably, various nations have drawn benefits from exploration and exploitation of minerals in the area.

“Countries such as Germany, India, Korea, China, Japan, UK, Jamaica and many others have signed various contracts for the explorations of minerals with ISA.

“Unfortunately, no African country has either as a state or through its private contractors made any move in this direction. This is what gave impetus to the idea of the African Deep Seabed Resources Workshop.

“This is to also enlighten African countries on mineral exploitation opportunities which abound not only on their continental shelves but beyond these boundaries.

“In this regard, there is a need for Nigeria and indeed African industrial stakeholders, private organisations, entities and NGOs to synergies efforts towards strengthening the engagement of African states in activities in the international seabed area.

“This will significantly improve data awareness and sharing, advance technical capacity and technically enhance the decision making in Nigeria and African maritime domain,” Osinbajo said.

According to him, the workshop will engender thought-provoking discussions and provide implementable decisions based on guidelines and also wake the consciousness of African states for sustainable development of African Blue Economy through exploration of our abandoned deep-seabed minerals”.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Osinbajo was represented at the event by the Minister of State for Transportation, Mr Ademola Adewole Adegoroye.

Also speaking, the ISA’s Secretary General, Mr Michael Lodge, said the African Deep-Seabed Resources (ADSR) project was designed to promote international cooperation for sustainable development of African Deep-Seabed resources to support the African Blue Economy.

Lodge explained that the initiative of ISA was implemented in partnership with AU and NORAD.

He said the objective of the project was to better inform the decision-making process of African states in relation to deep-sea exploration, strengthen technical capacity and stimulate reflection and discussion