The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has appointed Dave Muli as regional coordinator for Eastern and Southern Africa as part of changes to the way it delivers technical support to member states.
Based in Nairobi, Muli will oversee the IMO’s regional presence and technical cooperation programmes across 23 countries. The programmes cover areas including maritime safety and security, trade facilitation, environmental regulation, climate action, maritime law and governance, education and training, and compliance under the IMO Member State Audit Scheme.
The IMO said its Regional Presence Offices were intended to ensure that technical support responded to the priorities of countries in different regions while aligning with the organisation’s wider strategic goals.
Muli is a master mariner and maritime transport specialist.
His appointment forms part of a new team of regional coordinators across seven regions, including East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, the Pacific, the Caribbean, and Anglophone and Francophone West and Central Africa.
IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said the Regional Presence Offices served as a link between the organisation’s global priorities and the needs of member states. “Regional Presence Offices are no longer simply outposts of the organisation. They are the face of the IMO in the field and the bridge between our global priorities and the realities of our member states.”
The regional coordinators recently met in London to discuss implementation of the IMO’s Technical Cooperation Programme for 2026-2027 and ways to strengthen regional engagement and capacity-building.
