PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria – The Africa Blue Economy Roundtable (ABER) has inaugurated the Executive Bureau of its Women’s Forum, comprising eminent women leaders from Africa’s five regions and the Diaspora, to drive the shift from policy to practice and place African women at the centre of the global Blue Economy agenda.
The virtual inauguration, conducted by ABER Convener, Dr. Piriye Kiyaramo, brought together leaders from North, South, East, West and Central Africa and the Diaspora, including Barr. Sophie De Sylvie Djoufa Tiemagni of Cameroon, Chairperson of the Bureau, and Dr. Chizoba Christiana Anyika of Nigeria, Secretary-General.
In his inaugural address, Dr. Kiyaramo described the inauguration as “not merely an inauguration, but the correction of a 500-year-old injustice.”
He announced that the Women’s Forum will serve as Africa’s delivery engine for two defining global campaigns over the next two years: The IMO World Maritime Day Theme 2026–2027: “From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence”, and the African Union-endorsed Correct The Map Campaign.
According to IMO Secretary-General, Mr. Arsenio Dominguez, the 2026–2027 theme – the first in IMO history to run for two consecutive years, is designed to translate maritime regulations on safety, security and environmental protection from paper into concrete action felt “in every port and on every deck.”
“IMO is asking the world to move from Policy to Practice. Africa must answer by moving from invisibility to visibility, from the margins to the centre. You cannot power maritime excellence with a wrong map and a workforce that excludes women,” Dr. Kiyaramo stated.
Citing FAO 2024 data, he noted that of 61.8 million people employed in primary fisheries and aquaculture globally, only 24% are women, yet women account for 62% of the processing and value-addition workforce and only 14% of production managers. In the EU, women make up 3.63% of fishers on board vessels but 56.2% of processing workers, while 75% of seafood business decision-making is male-dominated. In Africa, women perform 60–80% of post-harvest work but own almost no vessels, port concessions or insurance.
On Correct The Map, Dr. Kiyaramo noted that the 16th-century Mercator projection, still widely used in schools, distorts Africa’s true scale, depicting Greenland as comparable to Africa, whereas Africa at 30.3 million sq km is 14 times larger and can contain the USA, China, India, Japan and most of Europe combined.
He echoed AU Deputy Chairperson, H.E. Selma Malika Haddadi: “It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not,” and Africa No Filter’s description of Mercator as “the world’s longest misinformation campaign.”
THREE-PILLAR IMPLEMENTATION PLAN (2026–2027)
The Convener recommended an implementation framework bothering on grassroots certification of women as tour guides, boat safety operators and aquaculture entrepreneurs, and advocacy for inclusion as Flag State and Port State Control Officers.
Domestication of IMO instruments to every creek and coastal community – from Oyorokoto in Rivers State to Brass in Bayelsa, Limbe in Cameroon and Zanzibar in Tanzania just to mention a few and promotion of the Equal Earth projection in maritime academies and schools where ABER members teach.
Dr. Kiyaramo charged the Bureau to make the invisible visible, move women from processing to power with a target of 40% representation in management and vessel ownership, and ensure standards are felt in every creek, not just every port.
In her remarks, Chairperson Barr. Sophie Djoufa Tiemagni said: “Our vision is simple but powerful: to make African women ambassadors and active drivers of a sustainable Blue Economy – from policy to practice. We want women to be VISIBLE where policies are designed, PRESENT where decisions are made, EQUIPPED where opportunities emerge, CONNECTED where partnerships are built, and EMPOWERED where resources are allocated. That is the Africa we want to help build.”
She also unveiled the working theme for ABER’s World Maritime Day Conference: “Correcting the Map, Powering Maritime Excellence: Women Driving Africa from Policy to Practice,” proposing four immediate actions – adoption of the theme, preparation of a Concept Note for the IMO 2026–2027 campaign, transmission of the Note to the IMO Secretariat, and constitution of a drafting team.
To maximise participation, the Conference is proposed for Wednesday or Friday of World Maritime Day Week, rather than Thursday, 24 September, which will be congested with official national events.
“The Africa Blue Economy Roundtable was created to put Africa where it belongs – at the centre of the global ocean economy. The Women’s Forum is how we will get there, with no woman left behind,” Dr. Kiyaramo concluded.
About ABER: A flagship initiative of the BRACED Tourism Promotion and Development Initiative (BTPDI), ABER is a Pan-African platform dedicated to sustainable Blue Economy development, investment and inclusive growth.
