The Gulf of Guinea Maritime Institute Launches the Blue Mentorship Program.

New program to support the development of a future maritime workforce and foster Africa’s youth engagement in sustainable blue economy careers, businesses and entrepreneurial actions.

On the 2nd of November, 2022, the Gulf of Guinea Maritime Institute (GoGMI) launched its maiden Blue Mentorship Programme. The programme aims to develop talented young individuals who are passionate about Africa’s maritime industry, and support novel ideas that have the potential to revitalize existing ocean sectors and industrialize emerging ones for the strategic development of national economies. Through a combination of curated platforms, the Blue Mentorship Program will foster a network of young individuals to meet, share and collaborate on different fronts while expanding their skill set and knowledge base in the creation of ocean-based industries and economic activities to drive long-term value to the continent.

In a post-COVID era, youth bear great potential to contribute to the: co-creation of international frameworks and guidelines to protect the blue environment; investment in innovation, technologies, and human capital for developing ocean sectors; actions geared towards effective biodiversity and environmental conservation as well as mitigation of the effects of climate change; shaping of national visions for the sustainable blue economy; enhancement of entrepreneurship within the blue economy; and provision of maritime domain awareness solutions to improve monitoring, control, and surveillance of activities in the blue space. To achieve these set targets, the Blue Mentorship Programme will strive to identify blue economy sector opportunities and provide youth with access to maritime industry mentorship and support services to realize their potential. The mentorship programme aims to provide solutions and resources to improve career and business connections and financing for innovations in blue entrepreneurial activities in the Gulf of Guinea region. It will seek to develop collaborative research networks across the sub-region dedicated to enhancing indigenous understanding of Africa’s blue economy sectors.

The Blue Mentorship Programme will build on the GoGMI’s track record of providing unique platforms for sharing ideas and researching strategic maritime affairs, and producing solutions that address the current imbalance in the Gulf of Guinea region’s maritime studies, where local opinions and interests are under-represented. ​ In tandem with the launch, the mentorship programme will begin

with a training course that will lay the foundation for the broader activities that will be conducted under the programme. The training course will be conducted on a virtual platform over a series of nine (9) online sessions (including interactive sessions), under the topic, ‘’Youth in Africa’s Blue Economy: Developing Sustainable Careers and Businesses’’, to expose the cohort to various career opportunities in Africa’s Blue Economy and guide them through the variegated pathways for developing related sustainable careers. The training will cover four (4) modules from 8th – 18th November 2022. ​ In line with a commitment to contribute to the efforts of the UN Ocean Decade, the Blue Mentorship Programme will support collaborative research that is accessible and contribute to the diversity and inclusion of young people and females in sustainable ocean development. GoGMI invites all corporate, and international development organizations and industry partners who are passionate about innovation, diversity, and inclusion of young minds in the development of Africa’s blue economy to support the Blue mentorship financially as well as with technical expertise.

Visit the Blue Mentorship Programme page for more information.

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