The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea participated in the virtual meeting of the First General Congress of Aquaculture Network for Africa (ANAF) organized by African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) in collaboration with the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) with support from the European Union (EU) on the 20th of April 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya.
The workshop brought together the Directors of Aquaculture and senior national aquaculture officers of African Union Member States (AU-MS) and representatives of other key relevant institutions and stakeholders including the Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation Among African States Bordering the Atlantic Ocean (ATLAFCO), African Confederation of Artisanal Fisheries Organisations (CAOPA), Regional Fisheries Commission for the Gulf of Guinea (COREP), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to formally update them on recent developments in ANAF. Recent developments include the drafting of the Rules of Procedure of the General Congress, the draft Governance Instrument, and the Rules of Procedure of the Steering Committee.
The meeting was used as an occasion to review and validate the drafts, concluding with their adoption, and the proposition of an interim Executive Committee with South Africa as the Chair. The next steps agreed upon at the meeting are for the ANAF to contact the 55 directors of Aquaculture/Fisheries to nominate the ANAF focal points, and the Regional Economic Communities – RECs/ Regional Fishery Bodies – RFBs to nominate the ANAF Liason officers ahead of the 2nd ANAF General Congress meeting planned for 13-16 November 2023, in Zambia.
