A set of recommendations aimed at boosting private sector partnership intervention in west, central and southern Africa over the next two years was agreed during a regional workshop and conference in Lagos,
Nigeria, on 10-14 October 2011, hosted by the Global Initiative for West, Central and Southern Africa (GI WACAF).During the event, headlined “Towards Operational Oil Spill Response in West, Central and Southern Africa”, all the countries involved submitted their national action plans for the next two years of the project.Industry and government focal points exchanged experiences and reviewed progress achieved within the programme’s action plan. The results will help determine objectives for the next biennium, including ratifying the relevant IMO international conventions, such as the International

Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (OPRC), 1990, developing regional agreements and enhancing technical cooperation.
This conference, which gathered more than 300 participants, was organised by the GI WACAF Project with the support of IMO, IPIECA (the global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social
issues), the local oil industry and the national authorities of Nigeria through the Nigerian Maritime

Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA). The event followed a regional workshop on policies for the use of dispersants in West and Central Africa, held in Accra, Ghana, 22-24 June.

The GI WACAF Project is a long standing partnership between the IMO and IPIECA to enhance the capacity of the twenty-two countries in the region to prepare for and respond to marine oil spills through the promotion of public/private partnerships whereby oil industries and the relevant national authorities work together.