From 7 to 10 November Ghana’s capital city, Accra, will host the ninth Regional Conference of the Global Initiative for West, Central and Southern Africa (GI WACAF).

The conference will bring together representatives from the 22* partner countries of the GI WACAF project, from the Oil & Gas industry and from partners.

The main objectives of the conference are to address the challenges of oil spill preparedness and response in the region, to review the progress achieved since the last Regional Conference and to foster discussions to set the strategic priorities for the next biennium of 2023-2024.

The success of the GI WACAF Project relies heavily on the involvement of the countries. Thus, delegates will be invited to share their experiences and good practices, to identify priorities to strengthen spill response preparedness and potential need for support from the GI WACAF for the next biennium. A panel of international experts will be present to facilitate the discussions.

The Conference is organized by the IMO and Ipieca, the global Oil & Gas industry association for advancing environmental and social performance, in close collaboration with the Government of Ghana, in particular the Environmental Protection agency (EPA).

Organised at the end of each biennium, the regional conference is a key event in the life cycle of the GI WACAF Project. The 9th Regional Conference will launch a new biennium (2023 – 2024), after a three-years period during which the project had to rethink its approach to support the region in response to the sanitary context

For 16 years, the Project has been supporting its partner countries by continually strengthening and adapting its capacity to support their development.

Illustrations per www.ghanaports.gov.gh

Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority ©

*Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.