Strengthening Port State Control in West and Central Africa

The waters of the Gulf of Guinea are vital to global trade and livelihoods of coastal communities, yet maritime safety and related  oversights including seafarer’s  welfare and safety, marine ecosystems and regional economies are endangered by poorly  regulated shipping. These challenges were common across all regions and attracted the attention of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which subsequently developed Resolution A.682(17) of 1991 on Regional Co-operation in the Control of Ships and Discharges to specifically address them. 

The Resolution covers a broad range of issues, including the promotion of regional cooperation, harmonization of Port State Control procedures, strengthening compliance with IMO conventions, recognition of Flag State responsibilities, development of regional Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), prevention of marine pollution, and other related measures aimed at enhancing maritime safety and environmental protection.

 In the spirit of Resolution  A.682(17) of 1991, the West and Central African States signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control for West and Central African Region (Abuja MoU) in 1999 to address the issues identified in the Resolution and to harmonise Port State Control (PSC) activities, while enhancing compliance with international maritime conventions across the region.

However, despite progress made under the Abuja MoU framework, implementation gaps, inconsistent inspection capacity,  uneven regulatory alignment, and governance challenges continue to limit the effectiveness of PSC across the region. The lack of effective and comprehensive oversight largely attributable to inadequate inspection coverage, inconsistent capacity and competence among PSC inspectors, gaps in the ratification, domestication and enforcement of international conventions, and broader governance challenges. 

This project aims to address these issues / deficiencies by transforming Port State Control (PSC) in West and Central Africa from a fragmented system, characterized by uneven levels of inspectors’ training and field experience i into a cohesive, well-trained, knowledgeable, transparent, and effective regional framework.

Key activities for the project include:

• Improving the capacity and competence of PSC inspectors. There are two approaches to this. First, an annual mentorship programme which pairs mentors from high-performing States with mentees from underperforming States for on-the-job shadowing, based on successful pilots with Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Second, a new training curriculum for 200 inspectors adopting the train-the-trainer model,  over the length of the project,. The curriculum will cover ethical standards, core IMO and ILO conventions as well as the human elements in maritime safety. It also aims to address gender imbalance within the Abuja MoU region  by increasing the number of trained female inspectors in the industry (Port State Control sector).
• Building regulatory alignment. This will focus on securing the buy-in of policy makers by building leadership relationships and consensus, creating roadmaps to help countries towards ratification and enforcement of international standards, and supporting countries to be able to conduct mock audits that simulate the IMO Member State Audit Scheme process, to identify challenges and prepare corrective action plans.
• Improving inspection transparency and governance by creating a regional quality control system aligned with international best practices, as well as a structured feedback system to foster dialogue between regulators and the shipping industry, promote transparency, and identify emerging issues quickly.