Nigeria is to host the Pan African Port Cooperation (PAPC) Conference in Nigeria's capital Abuja on Monday, a senior official has said.

Adebayo Sarumi, managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), told reporters on Friday in the commercial capital Lagos that the Europe-African Regional Meeting of the International Ports and Harbors Association (IAPH) would also be held at the same time.

According to Sarumi, the theme of this year's PAPC Conference is "Ports of the Future, What Vision for Africa, Considering the International Reality."

He explained that the theme of the conference had been carefully chosen as a result of the on-going port reforms sweeping across the entire African continents.

He said the conference would afford delegates the opportunity to share experiences about the process, strategies and challenges in the course of implementing the reforms.

"It will also afford members the opportunity to discuss perennial problems of financing port infrastructure development and maintenance because of the huge capital outlay involved," Sarumi said.

The NPA official said the delegates would also explore and identify the huge investment opportunities and take advantage of same among themselves.

Sarumi recalled that the NPA commenced various aspects of the reforms of the nation's ports three years ago, and that the same was applicable in some other African countries.

He, however, noted that the countries of Europe, American, Middle East and Asia were far gone in the efficient operations and management of their ports through automation and infrastructural development and that "we in Africa are lagging behind, but must not allow this situation to linger."

The NPA managing director explained that the conference would bring African countries together to evolve areas of cooperation and assistance among themselves in order to run efficient ports in the face of global realities.

The PAPC is a coalition of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA), the Port Management Association of East and Southern Africa (PMAESA) and the Union del Administration Portuaires de Nord de L'Afrique (UAPNA). It was established seven years ago with an aim to promote the development of the port industry in Africa, capacity building in maritime and trade facilitation within Africa.

Source: Xinhua