Engaging the International Maritime Organization

Supporting Africa's Voice at the International Maritime Organization

A United Nations Agency, an African Stake

The International Maritime Organization is the United Nations agency for the safety, security and environmental performance of shipping. Only governments take part in its decisions. Make in Africa is not affiliated with it, is not endorsed by it and is not an official channel to it. We will support African governments with evidence and position papers when they ask, and no more than that.

Why This Matters to African Trade

Global Rules Reach African Ports

Rules agreed on safety, pollution and fuels shape what ships can carry, how they are built and what they cost to run. Africa depends on shipping for most of its trade, so these rules touch food, fuel and jobs. African governments must be able to take a full part in international maritime rulemaking, with the evidence and expertise to shape rules and not only to comply with them.

What We Will Support
What Africa Needs from the Process

Stronger African Participation

Delegations need time, staff and technical advice to follow many meetings at once. We will support African governments, if they ask, with briefings and position papers that set out shared African interests, and we will encourage coordination through the African Union and regional economic communities so that Africa speaks clearly.

Capacity Building for Port States

Port states inspect ships, manage waste, respond to spills and enforce safety. Many African administrations need more trained staff and equipment. We will ask the Organization and wealthier members for technical cooperation, training and equipment that build lasting African capacity, with institutions on the continent at the centre.

Search and Rescue Capability

Long coastlines and busy sea lanes need coordinated rescue and good communications. We will ask for support to strengthen African rescue coordination, shared training and equipment, so that seafarers, fishers and passengers off African coasts are better protected.

Fair Rules, Properly Supported

Safety Rules That Work in Africa

Safety standards should be high everywhere. They also need to be workable, with time to adopt them, training to apply them and fair treatment of ports still building capacity. We will help African governments set out practical needs so that rules raise safety without closing African trade out.

Pollution and Decarbonisation Rules

Africa wants cleaner seas and cleaner shipping. Rules on fuel, emissions and ballast water must come with finance and technology support, and with impact assessments that look at African trade costs. Without them, new duties fall hardest on the economies least able to meet them.

Technology and Finance Support

Cleaner fuels, port reception facilities and monitoring systems cost money. We will ask the major economies and development partners for fairly priced finance, technology sharing and skills, so that African ports can meet new rules and benefit from them, including by supplying new fuels.

Where Make in Africa Can Help

Evidence for African Governments

We will gather data and practical experience from African ports, shippers and chambers, in aggregate form, and make it available to governments that wish to use it in their own submissions. The choice of position always rests with each government.

Draft Position Papers

Through the Cooperation and Dialogue Councils and the African shipping coalition, we will prepare short, plain papers on topics such as port-state capacity, safety, green rules and rescue. Papers are offered to governments as input, to adopt, adapt or set aside. They are not government positions and bind no one.

Convening African Maritime Experts

We will bring together port managers, seafarer trainers, naval architects, lawyers and economists from across the continent to review proposals before meetings and share lessons after them. Appointments to expert committees will be announced, and nominations are invited.

Principles We Will Hold to in This Engagement

African Governments Lead, We Support

Only states take part in the Organization's decisions. Make in Africa will never claim to speak for it, for any government or for any coastal state. We support African governments with evidence when they ask, and we respect their right to decide.

Law Stays with the Proper Bodies

We hold no authority over any sea, strait or port. Where a dispute needs a ruling, it goes to the recognised bodies under international law, such as the dispute-settlement procedures of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea or the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Honest About Our Limits and Role

This page is a statement of intent. It does not report any contact, agreement or endorsement. We will say plainly what we have done, we will keep score on what Africa delivers at home, and we will not claim credit for decisions that belong to governments.

Support African Participation

Africa should help write the rules that govern its seas, ports and trade. If you work in an African government, a maritime academy, a port authority or a shipping body and want to contribute evidence to African submissions on maritime rules, we would like to hear from you.

Write to us through the form with the topics where African input is most needed.

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The Make In Africa Global Summit (MIAGS) is a global platform connecting leaders, businesses, investors, institutions and policymakers shaping the next era of economic growth across the Global South and Africa.

MIAGS advances South–South cooperation, trade, investment, industrialization, technology, infrastructure and economic resilience, creating platforms for dialogue, strategic partnerships and cross-border opportunities.

Our mission is to strengthen the Global South and Africa’s role in the global economy by connecting capital with opportunity, innovation with markets and economic priorities with action—while fostering a more connected, productive and influential economic future.

Engaging the International Maritime Organization

Supporting Africa's Voice at the International Maritime Organization

Why This Matters to African Trade