A proposed Regional Maritime University (RMU) for Eastern, Southern, and Northern Africa should be established through a phased approach rather than launched immediately as a fully-fledged university, according to a new feasibility study commissioned under the Maritime Organisation for Eastern, Southern and Northern Africa (MOESNA).

The study concludes that while there is overwhelming demand for a regional institution to train seafarers, maritime professionals, and researchers, the legal, financial, and institutional requirements for a standalone university are too extensive to be achieved at inception.

Instead, the report recommends that the institution begin as a regional maritime institute, maritime college, university college, or an upgraded maritime education and training institution before gradually attaining full university status.

The proposed approach seeks to reduce financial risks while allowing member states to progressively build internationally recognized training programmes, academic capacity, governance systems, and research capabilities.

The report notes that establishing a university from the outset would require degree-awarding powers, qualified academic staff, research centres, laboratories, simulators, workshops, quality assurance systems, sustainable financing, sea-time placement arrangements, and internationally recognized accreditation.

Without these prerequisites, the report warns, there is a danger of creating what it describes as "a university on paper" that lacks the infrastructure and regulatory credibility required to serve the maritime industry.

Instead, the preferred model would initially focus on addressing the region's immediate shortage of internationally certified seafarers by offering Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW)-aligned courses, diploma programmes, simulator-based training, and regional sea-time placement mechanisms.

As institutional capacity grows, the RMU would progressively introduce bachelor's degrees, postgraduate programmes, specialised research centres, and eventually doctoral studies.

The feasibility study proposes a five-phase development roadmap spanning approximately eight years.

The first phase would involve securing a regional agreement among member states, selecting the host country, establishing governance structures, obtaining funding commitments, and preparing an accreditation roadmap.

Between the first and third years, the institution would launch distance learning, short professional courses, diploma programmes, and selected bachelor's degree courses while negotiating internship and sea-time agreements with industry.

The next phase would see the expansion of laboratories, simulators, workshops, and student services alongside higher education accreditation.

By years five to eight, the institution would seek a full university charter, introduce postgraduate programmes, and establish regional maritime research centres before ultimately expanding into doctoral education, international partnerships, and a regional qualifications recognition framework.

The study draws lessons from successful maritime institutions, including Ghana's Regional Maritime University, which evolved from a national nautical college into a regional university, and other international maritime education models that developed gradually before attaining global recognition.

Stakeholder consultations conducted during the study strongly favoured the phased model. Maritime education institutions interviewed argued that incremental growth would minimise financial and operational risks while allowing time to build industry confidence and strengthen regulatory compliance.

The report also found strong demand for higher education programmes. An online survey involving 638 respondents ranked master's degree programmes as the highest priority, followed by bachelor's degrees, doctoral programmes, short professional courses, certificates of competency, and diploma programmes.

Beyond academic development, the study places significant emphasis on governance.

It recommends establishing the RMU as a treaty-based intergovernmental institution under MOESNA, supported by a host-country agreement and shared ownership among member states.

Such a structure, the report argues, would guarantee regional ownership, enable the institution to operate across borders, mobilise funding from multiple governments and development partners, and ensure qualifications are recognised across participating countries.

Consultations also revealed broad support for an intergovernmental legal framework, with stakeholders favouring either a regional intergovernmental institution or an MOESNA-owned regional institution over a nationally owned university.

The report further stresses that the university must satisfy two equally important regulatory systems, higher education accreditation and international maritime training standards.

According to the study, balancing academic excellence with internationally recognised professional maritime training will be critical to ensuring the RMU becomes a sustainable centre of excellence serving Africa's growing blue economy and maritime transport sector.