The African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) and African Development Bank (AfDB) held a capacity development workshop to support coastal African countries in effectively negotiating fisheries agreements and concessions
The workshop took place from 2-6 July 2018 in Pretoria, South Africa. A similar workshop was earlier held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in May for a first batch of coastal countries.Both workshops were organised based on official languages of the countries.
Jean-Louis Kromer, chief natural resources officer, African Natural Resources Centre, said that strengthening the capacity of countries in the negotiation of fisheries agreements was an excellent example of how the Centre assists African countries to increase benefits from the exploitation of their natural resources.
The workshop specifically targeted officials from relevant government ministries. Around 25 participants from 14 countries benefited from negotiation simulations, and shared their experiences with one another.
“Their objective is to manage fisheries resources effectively and use these resources in the most sustainable way possible,” said Kromer.
The countries’ aim is to generate higher incomes and develop value chains based on the natural resources. Improving governance of the fisheries sector is expected to reduce Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, which represents a significant loss for the African continent.
The participants received certificates from Shaina Salman and Sarah Sameur, ALSF Legal Counsels.
“The workshop provided an important forum for fruitful discussions on fisheries access agreements,” said Salman.
The tools and lessons learned would soon be put to good use in forthcoming fisheries negotiations in their countries, said some officials.
