ADSR Experts

The ADSR experts are professionals from African States who were selected as part of the Africa Deep Seabed Resources (ADSR) project for deployment within the Secretariat of ISA.

The ADSR project is implemented by ISA in partnership with the African Union and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) following a joint voluntary commitment registered at the 2017 UN Ocean Conference by ISA and the African Mineral Development Centre (AMDC) of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (since transferred to the African Union) in support of the sustainable development of Africa’s Blue Economy (#OceanAction16374).

The main objective of the secondments is two-fold. First, to build on existing capacity-building initiatives to provide national experts with technical skills on deep-seabed related matters. Second, to enable the ISA Secretariat to benefit from the contribution of such experts with a view to advancing specific tasks identified in partnership with the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC).

A total of 10 national experts, including five women, were selected in 2020 among over 50 applicants. Deployments were initially scheduled in 2020. However, due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, deployments will take place on a rolling basis. As of January 2022, five experts have been deployed.

Selected experts

Name Field of expertise Country Name Field of expertise Country
Ms. Judith A. OWUSU Geology Ghana Ms. Lucy NJUE Geology Kenya
Ms. Tini GUITOBA Ocean Policy Togo Mr. Michel SJIMGOU DJOMENI Ocean Policy Cameroon
Mr. Gerald MWILA Geology Zambia Mr. John Astony Mataro Geology Tanzania
Mr. Samuel POPOOLA Geology Nigeria Mr. Feuwo Nicodeme Noel Geology Cameroon
Mr. Godwin DIMIKE Ocean Policy Nigeria Ms. Linda Ansu-Kyeremeh Ocean Policy Ghana

Experts deployed in 2020

Ms. Judith A. Owusu, Ghana

Ms. Tini Guitoba, Togo

Experts deployed in 2021

Mr. Gerald Mwila, Zambia

Mr. Samuel Popoola, Nigeria

Mr. Godwin Dimike, Nigeria

Experts deployed in 2022

Ms. Lucy Njue, Kenya

Mr. Michel Djimgou Djomeni, Cameroon

Mr. John Astony Mataro, Tanzania

Mr. Feuwo Nicodeme Noel, Cameroon

Ms. Linda Ansu-Kyeremeh, Ghana