President Nana Akufo-Addo, at the launch of the 2023 National Blue Economy Summit, on 31 May, 2023 in Accra, officially declared the National Integrated Maritime Strategy (NIMS) a strategic working document.
In tandem with the declaration by the President, the National Maritime Technical Working Group (NMTWG) has the arduous task of commencing plans for the launch of (NIMS) to deepen national awareness and ownership of the maritime strategy, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 14, ECOWAS Integrated Maritime Strategy (EIWS) and Africa Integrated Maritime (AIMS).
The National Integrated Maritime Strategy (NIMS) aims to ensure that Ghana’s maritime domain is safe and its blue economy thriving by 2040.
The strategy pioneered by the Ministries of National Security and Transport and led by the Security Governance Initiative (SGI) Secretariat has since 2017 held wide consultation with state agencies and departments; local private entities, including those with fisheries and environmental interests; commercial and non-commercial maritime actors; experts and international partners; among others.
Speaking to the media, Dr Osei Bonsu Dickson, Acting Director of SGI, who chaired the (NIMS) development processes indicated that the strategy was developed with support from the Centre for Maritime Law and Security (CEMLAWS), Center for Strategic and Defense Studies Africa (CSDS Africa), Gulf of Guinea Maritime Institute (GOGMI), the Hyle Group and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime with funding from the Danish Government.
Speaking at the Blue Economy Summit Dr Dickson indicated that NIMS would bring greater strategic coherence to the work of the intelligence, legal, defense, policy, research, and enforcement communities in the wake of current maritime criminality.
Rear Admiral Issah Yakubu, Chief of Naval Staff, said the NIMS was necessary due to mounting threats at sea and the need to align the number of ministries, agencies and departments involved in the fisheries, energy and maritime security sectors.
Isaac Opoku Adjei, Political and Security Advisor at the ECOWAS and Regional Integration Directorate of the Office of the President also expressed full support for efforts at NIMS) alignment across the Gulf of Guinea region.