Abidjan, Sept 11, 2024 (AIP)- Actors from port control units in the Gulf of Guinea states have been strengthening their skills in container targeting and control techniques at the Regional Academy of Marine Sciences and Techniques (ARSTM) in Yopougon-Abidjan since Tuesday, September 10, 2024.
The four-day training course, attended by more than twenty participants, is aimed at better mastering the risks associated with maritime container transport, which are weighing on the security of the sub-region.
Opening the session, Colonel Abé Aké Lazare, Director General of the Interregional Maritime Security Institute (ISMI), explained that the ports of West and Central Africa, the main entry and exit points for the flow of goods, constitute strategic infrastructures for the economies of African states, but are also often exposed to illicit practices.
Colonel Abé added that this initiative will strengthen the capacities of the structures and services responsible for gathering, analyzing and processing intelligence, with a view to targeting risky container operations.
“This training is a specialization session designed to better equip auditors for more effective control of the flow of goods through our ports. I hope, dear participants, that you will be able to take advantage of it to master the nuts and bolts of container targeting and control”, he declared.