28
July
2014

WMU Celebrates First African Day of the Seas and Oceans

This past January, the decade of 2015-2025 was declared by the 22nd Ordinary Assembly of the African Union (AU) Assembly as the Decade of African Seas and Oceans, and 25 July specifically as African Day of Seas and Oceans. On 25 July, the first observance of African Day of Seas and Oceans took place in the presence of Mr. Samuel Kame-Domguia, Coordinator of the African Union’s (AU) 2050 Africa Integrated Maritime Strategy Task Force (2050 AIM-Strategy), as the guest of honor.

Three days of celebrations marked the event. Day one included a visit to Copenhagen’s new aquarium, The Blue Planet, where Mr. Kame-Domguia met with CEO Dorte Gleie to discuss the AU’s Aquarium Program. On July 25th, after a welcome by Acting President, Professor Neil Bellefontaine, Mr. Kame-Domguia delivered his key-note address on the 2050 AIM Strategy. This was followed by an open discussion forum with the students. After lunch, the 4 Regional Working Groups presented their reports and recommendations to Mr. Kame-Domguia on their expectations with regards to the implementation of the Strategy in their respective countries. On Saturday the students and their guest of honour travelled to the nearby island of Ven for a more informal day-trip.

With the Class of 2014, the number of WMU alumni from Africa will be over 1050 representing 48 African states. WMU Professor Larry Hildebrand is a recently appointed member of the AU’s Expert Group on the Pan-African Governance Policy and has played a key role in recent agreements between WMU and various agencies in Africa.

Since 2013, WMU has entered into a number of significant agreements with agencies and institutions in Africa including AfriCoG, the Angolan Ministry of Transport, Berbera Maritime and Fisheries Academy  (Somalia), the Foundation for Youth Development (Nigeria), Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (South Africa), the Regional Academy of Marine Sciences and Technologies (Côte d'Ivoire), and the South African Maritime Safety Authority who sponsored a record number of South Africans to study at WMU with a total of 21 in the M.Sc. program, and 4 Ph.D. students.

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