Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said during a two-day national ocean economy summit that his country is committed to developing a sustainable blue economy for the benefit of all citizens.

Akufo-Addo emphasized that the ocean presents an incredible opportunity to accelerate the West African country's development and improve people's well-being, and the government is developing policies and programs to ensure a sustainable ocean economy.

"As part of the process, we have initiated the national integrated maritime strategy to allow us to chart viable courses to address maritime threats, conservation and management of marine resources to generate substantial national income and ultimately improve the living standards of our people," he said.

Noting that very little capital went into the blue economy despite an increase in private investment over the past decade, the president underscored the need to guarantee greater investments into the new sector.

Akufo-Addo believed that through public-private partnerships, more private funds could be attracted to the maritime sector and marine-based projects.

Under the theme of "our ocean's health, our prosperity, our planet's security" and organized by the Ghanaian government's sustainable development goals advisory unit in partnership with the United Nations Development Program, the summit attracted both local and international stakeholders.