Kenya’s Special Envoy on Blue Economy Nancy Karigithu has been named in the 13th edition of Lloyd's list of one hundred most influential and powerful personalities globally.
Karigithu served as Principal Secretary for Shipping and Maritime under President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration.
The Former PS made it to the list owing to her impeccable and stellar work in the shipping industry around the globe.
Karigithu is a long-standing maritime professional with proven leadership in maritime administration spanning over thirty-four (34) years.
She has worked with Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Her core mandate has been strengthening and setting up maritime administrations, undertaking maritime legislative drafting, helping in seafarer capacity building and welfare as well as mentorship and empowerment of women in the maritime sector.
She has held various responsible positions at the global and national levels in the maritime sector, starting out as a State Law Officer before taking up the post of Senior Legal Officer at the Kenya Ports Authority for six years.
Amb. Karigithu has been consistent in championing matters relating to climate change including the decarbonisation of shipping and greening the ports, among others.
She is the current Chair of the Steering Committee of the Maritime Technology Cooperation Committee for Africa (MTCC-Africa), an EU/IMO partnership set up to support capacity-building programmes and activities on the reduction of Green-House Gas (GHG) emissions from the continents’ shipping sector.
She played a lead role in Kenya’s successful hostship of the first global conference on sustainable Blue Economy in 2018 which brought together thousands of participants from the global community to discuss how to build and support the blue economy concept.
Before her present assignment as Kenya’s Special Envoy on Blue Economy, Ambassador Karigithu served as the pioneer Director General of the Kenya Maritime Authority.
She was involved in the operational and policy management of maritime transport and logistics, maritime safety and security, maritime education and training and marine environment protection.
Her recent assignment was championing the development and adoption of the Guidelines for the Prevention and Suppression of the Smuggling of Wildlife on Ships Engaged in International Maritime Traffic.
The guidelines were adopted during the 46th Session of the IMO FAL Committee held in May 2022.
Based on her dedication and service to the global maritime industry, IMO Member States elected her as Chair of the Technical Cooperation Committee (TCC) for three consecutive terms. She currently sits on the Board of Governors of the World Maritime University (WMU) and the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI).
As a short-term legal expert for the European Union Critical Maritime Routes Project (EU CRIMARIO), Amb Karigithu provided advice and guidance on the improvement of security, safety and environmental protection of the maritime domain in the Western Indian Ocean.
