By Augustine Ehikioya
Towards facilitating Blue Economy and Security in Africa, the Nigeria’s Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, has been selected as Lead Speaker for an international symposium scheduled for South Africa in May.
The two-day symposium is being organised by the Security Watch Africa Initiatives (SWAI) and the Centre for Military Studies (CEMIS) of Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
This was contained in a press statement issued on Thursday by the SWAI’s President / Chief Executive, Mr. Patrick Agbambu.
According to him, the symposium which is coming up on the 4th and 5th of May, 2023, has the theme ‘Blue Ocean Economy and Security in Africa: Challenges and Prospects for Agenda 2063’
He said “The Symposium, holding at the STIAS Conference Centre, Stellenbosch, South Africa, seeks to explore various aspects of the Blue Ocean Economy and the potential roles that the Navies of various countries can play, in conjunction with public and private sector entities, in ensuring security on the continent’s ocean waters.
“It is aimed at articulating practical mechanism in actualizing the Blue Ocean Economy for the African continent using the Nigeria’s Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo’s outstanding leadership at the Nigerian Navy.
“The discussions are aimed at exploring how African Navies have experienced the unlocking of the Blue Economies in Africa.
“It will further assist to foster inter-naval co-operations and relationships between ECOWAS and SADC Navies,” he stated.
He stressed that the symposium will provide an important opportunity for the Chiefs of Navies to frame the agenda for Naval participation in their respective Blue water economies.
“There will also be syndicate discussions, and a feedback session to allow each syndicate to report their findings. The Symposium will close with a Consolidated Report of these findings,” he said.
Those expected to attend the Symposium, he said, included Parliamentarians, Ministry/Secretary of Defence personnel, Practitioners in the Maritime space, Academics, Defence Industry representatives.
The SWA President added “Also expected at the Symposium are Students at Military Academy, while a limited number of seats will be opened for the public to apply to attend.
“The call for delegates will close on 20 April 2023 for foreign delegates and 28 April 2023 for African delegates,” he stated.
Interested delegates can register through this link: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=Azv6pjwKWEKEM6Eg3_zTSJL_MKtfkGlPvYw0iUkRgjxUM0dTVzVFOTc1Wk9NUk5FNU9FTVkzSEJRRC4u
