During a two-day national ocean economy summit, Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo declared that his nation is committed to creating a sustainable blue economy for the benefit of all citizens.
The President made the call at the opening of a two-day maiden National Blue Economy Summit, held in Accra, from 31st May-1st June 2023 on the theme “Our Ocean’s Heath, Our Prosperity, Our Planet’s Security”. The Summit is organized by the SDGs Advisory Unit of the Office of the President, in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Ghana, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It aimed to mobilize transformative actions to sustainably manage the ocean towards SDGs achievement.
Akufo-Addo stressed that the ocean offers a fantastic chance to hasten the growth of the West African nation and enhance the well-being of its citizens and that the administration is creating policies and initiatives to guarantee a sustainable ocean economy.
“The ocean presents an incredible opportunity to accelerate our beloved country’s development agenda to improve our people’s well-being. The ocean must be at the heart of all our decision-making. We must walk the walk by making a greater commitment to the ocean”, he noted.
In order to address maritime threats, manage marine resources sustainably, generate significant national revenue, and ultimately raise the standard of living for our people, he said, “As part of the process, we have initiated the national integrated maritime strategy.”
The president emphasized the need to ensure higher investments into the new sector, noting that very little money moved into the blue economy despite an increase in private investment over the past ten years.
Akufo-Addo thought that public-private partnerships may draw more private capital to the maritime industry and marine-based initiatives.
The SDGs Advisor at the Office of the President and the Sherpa to the President on Ocean Action, Dr. Eugene Owusu, in his welcome remarks at the Summit, called for urgent action to halt overfishing and ocean degradation.
“For humanity’s own survival, it is absolutely imperative that we come together to ensure sustainable and responsible stewardship of our oceans”, noted Dr. Owusu.
The summit, which was held under the banner of “our ocean’s health, our prosperity, and our planet’s security” and was organized by Ghana’s Sustainable Development Goals Advisory Unit in collaboration with the UNDP, drew in both national and international participants.