The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources has received the sum of £130,000 (One hundred and thirty thousand Pounds) equivalent to ($210,000-two hundred and ten thousand Dollars) on the 14th February instant as first tranche of grant funds for the West African Pilot Project (WAPP).
The goal of the WAPP is “to enable sustainable contributions from fisheries to growth and food security”. The purpose of the WAPP is “to strengthen the abilities of Sierra Leone and Ghana to consider, determine and implement policies that will enable such contributions”.
Addressing the weekly news conference at the Ministry of Information and Communication, Minister of Fisheries, Dr Soccoh Kabia said that in October, 2011, NEPAD and the Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which led to a fruitful conclusion.
He added that the MoU outlined NEPAD support to the Ministry under a special budgetary programme, known as WAPP, adding that NEPAD support is in form of a grant to a total value of $1.4 million for a period of four years commencing from September 2011 to September 2014.
Dr. Kabia maintained that the arrival of the first tranche signals the beginning of the NEPAD supported activities under the WAPP, noting that it also compliments the ongoing activities under the West African Regional Fisheries Programme (WARFP). According to the Minister, the disbursement is “a milestone in the partnership between the NEPAD Agency, the Ministry and the World Bank.”
The Fisheries Minister reiterated that the objective of the WARFP is to sustainably increase the wealth that marine fish resources can provide to Sierra Leone by strengthening fisheries governance, reducing illegal fishing, and increasing the local economic value added from fisheries.
He stated that a Fisheries Sector Strategy Paper (FSSP)commissioned by DFID in collaboration with the World Bank and the UN FAO in 2007 considered opportunities for promoting successful fisheries development in Sierra Leone.
Minister Kabia noted that the FSSP reports the current value of the fisheries in Sierra Leone as being very limited. He noted that preliminary estimates give a potential capital value of the fish resources of Sierra Leone at US$ 735 million and an annual resource rent of US$ 59 million.
The Minister therefore extended appreciation to the two partners, and reaffirmed commitment to ensuring that the fisheries sector makes a significant contribution to the sustainable development and pro-poor economic growth of the country in line with government’s ‘Agenda for Change’.
WARFP will be implemented in nine West African Countries with grants to Cape Verde, Liberia, Senegal and Ghana among others. Activities under the NEPAD support will address the key activities under three thematic areas. Once all the activities are completed, the outcomes will culminate into defining and agreeing a five-year Strategic Action Plan for the Ministry.
By Abibatu Kamara
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