PMAWCA Hosts Regional Workshop on Ports Restructuring

Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) with the support of its Belgium-based consultants; Copetrans (CDE) is organising a two-day workshop to appraise the various port restructuring projects being executed in member ports in the sub region.
The workshop scheduled for 21 and 22 November 2008, will be hosted by the Gambia Ports Authority. It is a follow up to a survey launched early this year by PMAWCA as a means to assess impact of the port reform processes embarked in the sub region including the ongoing public private partnerships (PPPs).
The Secretary General of PMAWCA, Mr. El Hadji Mar Gueye, said the workshop’s main objective is to provide feedback to member ports on the survey conducted by the Consultant, Copetrans, so that national governments and port administrations can adopt best practices in the management of the restructuring processes. The workshop would also avail managers of the various port reform programmes the opportunity to exchange notes and share experiences, he explained.
The port restructuring survey covered the distribution of questionnaires to all member ports followed by visits to select member port cities. The questionnaires sent recorded a 72 percent rate of return, a feat considered as highly satisfactory in view of the perceived institutional challenges confronting member ports.
The recommendations from the workshop would provide to African governments the appropriate public private partnership models in the restructuring of their seaports for improved efficiency and productivity.