The African Legal Support Facility (ALSF), in partnership with the African Natural Resources Centre of the African Development Bank (AfDB), recently held a capacity development workshop to support coastal African countries in effectively negotiating fisheries agreements and concessions.
Fisheries legal expert Kwame Mfodwo conducted the workshop in Pretoria, South Africa. It specifically targeted officials from relevant government ministries. The 25 participants from 14 countries benefited from negotiation simulations and shared their experiences with one another. They were able to avail themselves of tools to negotiate fishing agreements and licenses in their best interest.
Chief natural resources officer Jean-Louis Kromer of the African Natural Resources Centre, said: “Their objective is to manage fisheries resources effectively and use these resources in the most sustainable way possible.”
Economic stability
The countries’ aim is to generate higher incomes for themselves, and to develop value chains based on their natural resources, said the AfDB. Improving governance of the fisheries sector is expected to reduce Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, which represents a significant loss for the African continent. As a result, several countries specifically asked the ALSF and the African Natural Resources Centre for capacity building workshops.
At the end of the exercise, participants received certificates from ALSF Legal Counsels Shaina Salman and Sarah Sameur. “The workshop provided an important forum for fruitful discussions on fisheries access agreements,” said Ms Salman. “It is a greatly needed step in the right direction, and will certainly improve future negotiations of access agreements,” Ms Sameur added.
A similar workshop was earlier held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in May.
