Tanger Med organized a “Get Together Meeting” on Thursday July 23, 2020 with members of the African Port Task Force. This digital meeting was attended by over 60 participants representing 47 port authorities from 28 countries, including general port directors and the chairman of African ports associations.
The objective of this meeting is to set up an effective collaboration space to promote the development of synergies between African port authorities and to encourage the sharing of expertise and experiences between the different players.
Several working themes, with the aim of identifying the best academic and practical learnings for the African port community, were discussed such as:
Resilience and agility of African ports face of the COVID-19 crisis, digitization serving trade facilitation and the competitiveness of African ports, connectivity of African ports with the “Hinterland”, as well as the problem of congestion in African ports and its impact on logistics and the supply chain etc
“We rely on international experts and institutional partners, to support the task force in the framework of studies and research work on priority subjects impacting the development of our projects and improving the competitiveness of African ports» emphasizes Mr. Ahmed Bennis, Group Development Director – Tanger Med.
Mrs. Hadiza Bala Usman, General Director of NPA (Nigerian Ports Authority) and Vice-President of the IAPH (International Association of Ports and Harbor) welcomed the initiative of Tanger Med and said: “it is important for the leaders of port authorities to set up spaces for exchanges within a common platform with the objectives of sharing experience and the efficiency of African ports ”.
Mr Martin Mutuku, Deputy Director of Kenya Port Authority shared the experience of Kenyan ports in dealing with the COVID 19 crisis and claimed: “In this period of crisis, African ports must increase interactions and discuss priority issues … the port of Mombasa as well as the other ports in Kenya are strongly mobilized within the APTF (African Port Task Force) to serve the interests of the mainland port community ”.
Representatives of port authorities confirmed their great interest in the work of the African Port Task Force and reiterated their commitment to get involved in project steering committees and thematic workshops.
About the African Port Task Froce – APTF: The African Port Task Force is an initiative launched by Tanger Med in July 2019 on the occasion of the 1st edition of the African Ports Forum held in Tangier.
This innovative Exchange Task Force in Africa enables the sharing of experiences between port authorities as well as the establishment of strategic coordination around issues of common interest.
APTF offers African ports an opportunity to adopt best practices, to connect to international experts’ network and to promote sustained collaboration within the African port community. (End)