Michael Luguje Appointed African Vice President at the International Association of Ports and Harbors

The International Association of Ports and Harbors has announced their newly elected Vice President, Michael Achungwe Lugaje. Mr. Luguje was appointed as Vice President by IAPH headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Through a vote of confidence by the members of the region,  Luguje was appointed in this position and which was announced on the official website, on 06 May 2022.

Luguje serves as the Director-General of Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority Ghana. Luguje strides with several accolades. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Linguistics from the University of Ghana and holds a Master’s of Science degree in maritime affairs (Port Management) from the World Maritime University, Malmo, Sweden, and an EMBA in the project and strategic management (PGSM, France). Starting his career in 1997 as a National Service Personnel at the Port of Tema Training department delivering quality French lessons to the staff of the Authority after obtaining his BA in French and Linguistics.

As an accomplished bilingual port management specialist who has occupied several senior management level employees of the Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority. Together with his extensive international experience in the ports sector of the west and central Africa and as an expert in maritime issues, his exposure to international institutions relating to the maritime industry has equipped him with both institutional and industrial knowledge to position Ghana’s ports to an enviable position within the comity of ports.

The new Vice President was appointed Director-General of Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) in July 2018, and before that has he had extensive training in Sweden and France where he obtained his Master of Science in Maritime Affairs (Port Management Specialization) and Executive MBA in Project and Strategic Management, accomplished bilingual port management specialist was appointed as the Regional Coordinator for West and Central Africa-International Maritime Organisation (IMO), technical secondment to the Ports Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) where he was in the second year of his second term as the Secretary-General of the Association based in Lagos, Nigeria, to highlight some of his remarkable career occupations.

Lugaje is no stranger to the IAPH, as he has previously worked with IAPH in raising the profile of the global initiatives taken by IAPH, mentioned Captain Subramaniam.

In making efforts to increase IAPH’s engagement and discuss key issues including decarbonization and digitalization, Jens Meier and the other European members initiated communication with the IAPH Africa Region CEOs. Following intense collaboration between the African region and the European team, Michael was elected the new Vice President of the IAPH.

“I welcome Michael as he joins us as vice president for the African region. We wish Michael well in taking this engagement to the next level” quoted in a comment by Jens Meier, former IAPH Vice President for the Europe region and also CEO of Hamburg Port Authority.

Lugaje’s appointment was well received and seemingly well deserved, with his academic background and experience in the maritime field. He was welcomed by IAPH president, Captain Subramaniam who commented “We are delighted to welcome Michael to the IAPH board and his new role as Vice President. In recent years he has worked very closely with our team on raising the profile of the global initiatives taken by IAPH, in particular, the efforts to accelerate digitalization in the maritime supply chain and the importance of establishing a sound port cybersecurity strategy, with IAPH experts attending in person and remotely at the recent Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) conference in Douala, Cameroon.”

IAPH aims to be the global trade association of choice for port authorities and operators representing their interest at the regulatory level at the International Maritime Organization, the World Customs Organization, the International Standards Organization, and other global alliances such as the Global Maritime Forum and World Economic Forum.

In conclusion, Lugaje commented “I thank IAPH’s member organizations in Africa for their confidence in me. During my tenure as VP, I will focus on rallying Africa’s ports to further enhance our resilience through stronger cooperation, knowledge sharing, and capacity building within Africa and globally under the umbrella of the IAPH.”