Dr. Mogo Felicia Chinwe

Dr. Mrs. Felicia Chinwe Mogo pioneered the Marine and Blue Economy Agenda of Nigeria, by bringing Blue Economy as a key sustainability area the Federal Government of Nigeria to key into, which eventually led to the establishment of the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. She is recognized as a global Strategic Expert in Marine/ Blue Economy, and Institutional Strategies especially in the areas of policy development, science-policy interface, development of instruments of intervention for the regulation of the maritime sector, implementation of regulatory processes and compliance monitoring and enforcement, Ocean diplomacy/ negotiation and socioeconomics (Sustainable Blue Economy). She has been up skilling and building capacity in this area both for the legislators, Regulators and monitoring Ministries, the Academia and so on. She had her career journey close to 4 decades in the Federal public sector of Nigeria, exiting service in January 2021, through NIMASA, where she retired as the Director Marine Environment Management Department (MEM). She is still fondly remembered in NIMASA to have attracted partnerships, enhanced staff capacities, and injected new approaches and tools in the Departments style of service.

She is a licensed Environmental Practitioner and a governing council member, Environmental Practitioners Institute Nigeria. She is the first African scholar to author a book specifically on sustainable Blue Economy in Africa, in 2020; Regulating the marine Environment of Africa towards Sustainable Blue Economy: The Nigerian Scenario. ISBN: 978-978-52500-7-7. She is the Founder/ President of the African Marine Environment Sustainability Initiative (AFMESI), a nongovernmental and pan-AFRICAN organization aimed at achieving clean oceans and sustainable Blue Economy in Africa. She is currently an Expert stakeholder to NIMASA, Federal Ministry of Environment and Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Nigeria. She is the Technical Anchor, of the Expanded partnership Committee on the implementation of Blue Economy in Nigeria in the office of the Vice President.

She is an appointed member (on an African seat), Group of Experts, United Nations Regular process on Global Reporting and assessment of the state of the marine environment and socio-economic aspects for the third cycle, Division of Ocean Affairs and Law of the Seas (DOALOS), United Nation, New York,   making her the first Nigerian and the first and only African female in the Group;

Re-elected Member, United Nations (UN) Group of Experts on Marine Environment and Socio-Economics for the 2026-2030 cycle.

Co-Lead: Supporting the development of the Blue Economy Framework in Nigeria – a World Bank Project.

She signed a MoU on behalf of AFMESI with The Development of Ocean Technical Capacity With African Nations/Women &Youth Technical Capacity For The Blue Economy (DOTCAN Institute/WYTEC Blue Project.

She is also;

A Rostered Consultant, International Maritime Organization (IMO), on Oil spill management, response and remediation;

She is an Expert Member, High-Level Panel on Ocean for Heads of States, World Resources Institute, Washington DC, USA.

In her days as a member of Nigeria’s delegation to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) official meetings, she earned the country several recognitions and she received many commendations for those efforts also. She submitted many IMO accepted position papers on behalf of Nigeria. She was elected in 2013 as a member of IMO Expert Compliance Group on London protocol on prevention of dumping of waste and other matters in the marine environment representing West and Central African Anglophone countries. She chaired the Group for two consecutive sessions and was re-elected as a member for three sessions. She remains a focal point on adapting the IMO’s conventions to the Nigerian and African context. She was elected a member of the United Nations Group of Experts on Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) as a candidate of IMO under the sponsorship of UNDP.

She established and was the pioneer Thematic Lead, Marine Ecosystem and Blue Economy, Nigerian Economic Summit Group;

Fellow, Chartered Institute of Transportation (CIOTA);

Fellow, Women In Shipping and Transportation Association (WISTA);

Board of Trustees Member, Waste management Society of Nigeria (WAMASON);

She also relates with the Academia, being the lead Academics, Lubari Maritime Academy, Opponent (External Examiner, PhD Oral Examination on Environment, World Maritime Academy, Malmo Sweden in 2023, and guest lecturer at the graduation ceremony of Igbinedion University, Okada town, Edo state, in 2023; currently supervising a Ph.D student, in Montclair University, New Jersey, USA on Financing Blue Economy;

In summary, she has grounded Industry & rigorous academic strength in Ocean Governance and Blue Economy qualifying her as sought out” Street and Gown” personality in the sector.

Dr. Mrs. Felicia Chinwe Mogo holds a PhD in Ecology/Ecotoxicology from the University of Port Harcourt (2002), an MSc in Environmental Science and Technology (Ecotoxicology) from the Institute of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering (IHE), Delft, The Netherlands (1992), a Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Environmental Science and Technology from the Institute of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering (IHE), Delft, The Netherlands (1992), & a BSC in Biological Sciences-Botany (from the University of Benin in 1984).

She has attended/ organized / facilitated many conferences and seminar and has acquired and issued many certifications.

She is a diamond member of WiSTA, Nigeria.

She is a wife, mother, and grandmother.

Her passions include cooking, gardening, swimming, brisk-walking & aerobics