Stakeholders in the African maritime space and beyond have brainstormed on a number of steps they believe could form the building blocks for the continent’s transition from fossil fuels to green fuels. This took place during the just-ended 2-day Green Shipping Conference in Africa, which took place at the Labadi Beach Hotel last week.

Present were the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organisation, Mr. Kitack Lim, Ghana’s Minister for Transport, Hon. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah and Director General of the Ghana Maritime Authority and Mr. Thomas Kofi Alonsi, and other maritime heads of 17 African states.

Also present were almost 300 participants from international organizations, industry players, maritime companies and top brass of the maritime industry, and regulators in the maritime sector. Representatives of diplomatic missions from the ECOWAS, United Nations, and European Union in Ghana, also participated in the conference.

As key speakers at the opening session, one message was clear; the need to involve every country. All three august personalities didn’t mince words about the need to involve every country in the strategies to lead Africa into the advent of green shipping and harness the grand agenda of global shipping’s zero emission. The shipping sector on its own emits about 3% of annual global greenhouse gases.

Themed “Unlocking Opportunities for Green Shipping in Africa”, the conference sought to bring to bear the need, opportunities, and challenges associated with the purported transition. It moreover provided the forum for opportunities to set the agenda for future interregional dialogues.

One of the challenges that rears its ugly head from the outset of such seismic climate-based changes is the issue of financing, and Africa is one of the worst hit in such situations. This made the presence of representatives of the World Bank and African Development Bank who assured the house of their preparedness to offer financial assistance to various maritime organizations, a welcome sight.

Case studies from Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, etc., and global success stories were shared for inspiration to find concrete steps toward Africa’s green shipping transition. Experts from UNCTAD and ports in Ghana, South Africa, and Morocco highlighted initiatives aimed at producing alternative fuels and the general shift in policy direction towards the sustainability of ports.

Key among the takeaways from contexts and perspectives espoused by the experts present were energy efficiency, green jobs, green corridors, and perspectives on alternative energy and fuel production. South Africa’s alternative fuels are ammonia, hydrogen, methanol & synfuel.

They gave an insight into how they drive the project primarily through a public-private partnership dubbed Hydrogen South Africa. The project when completed has the potential to export between 4-8 MT of hydrogen to the rest of the world.

Namibia also caught the attention of all present with its green hydrogen scholarship program that has been introduced for the youth in Namibia to improve capacity building in that regard. That was aside from introducing their regional hydrogen ecosystem which emanates from their natural environment that supports the production of offshore windmills.

Representatives of global maritime supply chain companies like Maersk also outlined their company’s decarbonization commitment to ensure a net zero emission by 2040.

It goes without saying that the ideas explored at the conference formed the building blocks for future deliberations that will catapult the continent from its fossil fuel transmission in shipping to the more en-vogue, sustainable and renewable forms of energy.