By Alex Boye
Director of Policy and Chairman of the Joint Ministerial Committee on National Integrated Maritime Strategy (NIMS), Dr. Osei Bonsu Dickson, has called on government to take a critical look at the development of Ghana’s Blue Economy in its quest to grow the economy and develop the country.
Dr. Dickson was optimistic that Ghana’s focus on the blue economy would help provide for a more durable economic leverage as the nation works out modalities to minimize economic challenges.
Dr. Dickson made this known at the launch of the National Integrated Maritime Strategy (NIMS) aimed at boosting the protection of Ghana’s territorial waters in Accra last Tuesday.
According to him, most developed countries have benefitted tremendously from the blue economy due to the massive work they put into developing that aspect of the economy
The NIMS Joint Committee Chairman expressed worry over how many people have turned Ghana’s beaches into their places of easing themselves.
“Ghana can swim in a pool of money if we developed a mindset of developing our blue economy” Dr. Dickson stated.
For his part, Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo intend said protecting the territorial waters of Ghana is critical due to its economic, environmental, and security importance.
He said in the face of the maritime threats in the Gulf of Guinea, the country needs a navy that is up to protect Ghana’s territorial waters as well as business and security interests.
To achieve that, he said the government recognized the need for a well-resourced and technologically advanced navy, adding that the country has started equipping the navy with drones, coastal radars, real-time surveillance, and tracking protocols to improve its physical presence at sea.
Nana Akufo Addo pledged that the government will increase the fleet of patrol boats of the country’s navy to improve operational efficiency.
The disclosed that construction of naval infrastructure is on course, adding that the government will continue with this naval infrastructure construction policy to improve the navy’s maritime response time.
“The government will continue supporting the maritime authority, ports and harbors authority, the fisheries sector, the oil and gas sector, and the entire maritime industry with policies, equipment, training, and resources as part of maritime security capacity building to protect and develop the blue economy,” he added.
