By By: Staff Writer
Monrovia, Liberia – Liberia and Tanzania have sealed a strategic maritime partnership designed to boost African seafarer training, certification, and institutional cooperation, signaling a renewed continental drive to expand Africa’s footprint in global shipping.
Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization, Robert Wilmot Kpadeh, hailed the agreement as a turning point, noting that Africa currently supplies just four percent of the world’s 1.9 million seafarers despite its vast coastline.
He stressed that the collaboration will help both nations train and empower a new generation of maritime professionals while strengthening governance systems and unlocking Africa’s blue-economy potential.
Representing Tanzania, Director General of the Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation, Mohamed Salum, described the MoU as a practical roadmap for cooperation, emphasizing that Liberia’s global expertise in ship registration and compliance offers Tanzania a valuable model for strengthening its own maritime structures.
Salum highlighted Liberia’s recent rise in global ship-registration tonnage—surpassing Panama—as evidence of the country’s long-standing leadership in international shipping and regulatory oversight.
Under the agreement, Tanzanian officials and seafarers will benefit from exchange programs, specialized technical training, and certification opportunities, opening doors for professionals to work aboard vessels flying Liberia’s flag.
Both sides say the partnership lays the groundwork for stronger maritime standards, improved safety and efficiency, and a more competitive African shipping sector, while also deepening cooperation at global maritime policy levels through shared engagement at the IMO.
The deal ultimately reflects a shared Liberia–Tanzania commitment to elevate Africa’s role in the global maritime industry through skills transfer, knowledge sharing, and long-term institutional collaboration.
