Regional Marine Centre

Abandze, a coastal fishing community in Ghana, celebrated its festival last week with the apotheosis on the 5th and 6th of November 2022. The purpose of the yearly festival is to cleanse, thank and mobilize resources for developmental projects within the community. A team of fishers ready for the regatta, Abandze Being made of strong fishing community groups (canoe and gear owners, women investors, fishermen, fishmongers, and their dependencies), the people of Abandze called upon the GMES and Africa project to support and address the celebrants during a durbar and also the regatta (canoe race) that marked and end the festival. The gatherings served as mediums to promote the safety at sea campaign. A section of the gathering during the durbar, Abandze The MarCNoWA consortium of the GMES and Africa Project supported the organization of the durbar, the mobilization of funds for community development, and the canoe race with visibility materials such as branded shirts, flyers, poster...

The call was made by the Greater Accra regional branch of the Canoe and Gear Owners Association of Ghana during the Safety at Sea campaign organised by the Marine and Coastal Areas Management in North and West Africa’s consortium (MarCNoWA).   Group picture with the leadership of the regional branch of  Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana, Greater Accra  The ocean state forecast service provided to beneficiary countries is one of the flagship services of the MarCNoWA consortium under the GMES and Africa Project Phase II. The service provides information and ocean state maps to protect lives and property at sea from bad weather. In Ghana, information on the ocean state has been accessed more than 100 000 times via the short code *920*88# since its inception in phase I of the project. The shortcode was developed by the University of Ghana which is the lead of the consortium. At the palace of the Chief fisherman of the Moree fishing town in the Central region...

President of Canoes and Fishing Gears Association of Ghana (CaFGOAG), Nana Kweigyah, called on the GMES and Africa Community not to abandon them and to continue providing the ocean state forecast services. According to him, the ocean state service has made a tremendous impact on the lives of artisanal fishermen in Ghana. He made the appeal at the Launch of the Marine and Coastal Areas Management in North and West Africa (MarCNoWA) Project, under the GMES and Africa Project Phase 2. Nana Kweigyah, President of Canoes and Fishing Gears Association of Ghana (CaFGOAG) More than 75 African experts in natural resources, marine and coastal areas management gathered in Accra-Ghana to launch the MarCNoWA Project on the 6th of July 2022 in Accra, Ghana. The launch brought experts from the GMES & Africa consortia of institutions, the African Union Commission, the regional bodies involved in fisheries and environmental management, and Earth Observation practitioners from the private sector, th...

The Marine and Coastal Areas Management in North and West Africa (MarCNoWA) Project was launched on July 6, 2022, at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, Ghana, and was attended by more than seventy-five African experts in natural resources and marine and coastal areas management. Experts from the Global Monitoring For Environment and Security ( GMES & Africa ) consortium of institutions, the African Union Commission, regional bodies involved in fisheries and environmental management, Earth Observation practitioners from the private sector, the partner institutions, and the national focal points of beneficiary institutions were present at the launch. Professor Boateng Onwona - Agyeman, Provost of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS) at the University of Ghana and Director of the project , urged the GMES & Africa community to consolidate their gains from the first implementation phase of the programme and work towards a successful second phase during the opening cerem...

ByteForce emerged as the 1st runner up at the final of the #OceanChallenge4Africa Hackathon organized by the Copernicus Marine Service and Mercator Ocean International in April 2022. Over 90 teams across Africa offered technological and innovative solutions to challenges that the continent is facing within the maritime domain. The challenge engaged in several pre-events, evaluating and perusing ideas from the teams and eventually selecting 35 teams for the final event. The ByteForce team tendered a solution in the topic area of "A productive ocean" leveraging data from the Copernicus Marine Service, an API of the Global Fishing Watch, EMODnet-biology and a virtual computing platform of the Copernicus access hub. Home page ByteForce application to monitor illegal fishing The mobile application detects and maps potential fishing zones and as well the activity and location of fishing vessels providing statistical information on the effort of each vessel off the coasts of Africa ...

The GMES and Africa Project at the University of Ghana's newest endeavour aims to provide mentorship and an enabling environment for Women in Technology (WIT). The campaign was launched with a visit to the Mfantsiman Girls' Senior High School, which won the second edition of the Senior High Schools' Renewable Energy Challenge 2021 for the southern zone. Prof. George Wiafe, engaging some Mfantsiman Girls To close the gender gap in technology, it is critical to educate the youth, particularly young girls and women, about the value of technology and how the Internet of Things (IoT) may be integrated into their academic, research, and future careers. “ Women are sometimes disadvantaged as they advance in their careers when they are unable to: use IoT, Big Data, and Open Sources tools, have access to mentorship or work in an enabling environment ,” says Prof. George Wiafe, Director of the Regional Marine Centre at the University of Ghana. The goal of UG-GMES' WIT program is ...

Le concours du GMES et l'Afrique "Incubation Challenge" 2021 cible les équipes ou individus ayant un grand intérêt pour la conception de solutions environnementales durables grâce à l'intelligence artificielle (IA), l'Internet des objets (IoT) et le Big Data qui pourraient avoir un impact sur les espaces marins et côtiers. Le Challenge vise à développer une culture d'innovation positive dans le domaine maritime et côtier, ainsi qu'à établir des partenariats avec des startups innovantes et des passionnés individuels. Ce concours est la plus récente innovante initiative du projet regional de GMES et l'Afrique dirigé par le consortium de l'Université du Ghana basé en Afrique de l'Ouest. Il s'agit également du 4ème concours organisé par l'Université du Ghana et ses partenaires depuis 2019. Le programme continental de "GMES et l'Afrique" est cofinancé par la Commission de l'Union africaine et la Commission européenne.  Pour...

The GMES and Africa Incubation Challenge 2021 competition targets teams or individuals with a keen interest in building sustainable environmental solutions using Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data that could impact the marine and coastal spaces. The Challenge is directed at developing a positive innovation culture in the maritime and coastal domain as well as building partnerships with innovative startups and individual enthusiasts. The competition is the latest innovative initiative of the continental programme "GMES and Africa" co-funded by the African Union Commission and the European Commission and led by the University of Ghana's consortium based in West Africa. It is also the 4th competition organised by the University of Ghana and its partners since 2019.  The Challenge is open to citizens of any African country  or anyone residing in any African country. Applying teams or individuals are invited to focus their solutions on domain...

In order to protect the fisheries and other marine and coastal resources towards food security, Benin has taken a great step in establishing a Marine Protected Area (MPA). Marine protected areas (MPAs) are areas of the seas or oceans, and estuaries that are protected against pollution and overexploitation of resources. MPAs are protected areas that restrict human activities for conservation, usually to safeguard natural or cultural resources. Local, state, territorial, native, regional, national, or international authorities preserve these marine resources, which vary greatly within and between nations. Sea defence within Donaten, the proposed Marine protected Area The fishing industry in Benin is a significant source of economic and social development. Benin is a country in West Africa with a population of 9,607,000 people and a land area of 114,760. It has a 120-kilometre shoreline and extensive marine resources, including a 3,100 km2 continental shelf, 2,750 km2 of which are trawlab...

Capacity building and strengthening within the maritime domains in Africa is a must for efficient and economical defensive and protective operations. The call was made by Prof. George Wiafe during the 2nd International Maritime Defence Exhibition & Conference (IMDEC), which took place on 7-8 July 2021 in Accra, Ghana. Prof. George Wiafe, 2nd from the right, during the panel discussion  The conference hosted by the Ghana Navy was attended by over 15 Chiefs of Navies and Air Staff from across Africa together with about 300 national and international senior officials from Navies, Air Forces, Coast Guards and Marine Police. Piracy, illegal fishing, armed robberies, governance, regional cooperation, blue economy and capacity building are the major issues discussed. IMDEC participants during the panel discussion The GMES and Africa project was represented by the University of Ghana, the lead of the marine consortium in West Africa. The Director, Prof. George Wiafe, during the panel...

Start-ups in the Earth observation (EO), Internet of Things (IoT) and Open Source Technology (OST) industry were called upon to turn the challenges faced within the industry into opportunities to solve problems and become money-making businesses. This call was made at a meeting organised at the University of Ghana from 12 -14 May 2021. Prof. George Wiafe, Director of the Regional Marine Centre, University of Ghana Indeed, the Regional Marine Centre in partnership with the Department of Computer Engineering of the University of Ghana (UG) has organised three days meeting to assess technological needs within the region to enable the creation of Earth Observation businesses in the marine and coastal environment. The meeting brought together representatives from industry, government institutions, academia and the private sector from Ghana and Nigeria. Group photograph of a section of participants at the meeting To successfully engage the EO, IoT and OST start-ups, there was a need to list...