The closing date for the Africa Global Environment Facility (GEF)-Western Indian Ocean Marine Highway Development and Coastal and Marine Contamination Prevention Project will be extended from June 30, 2011 until December 31, 2012. The extension of the closing date is necessary to allow the necessary implementation period to fully deploy the marine highway and achieve all development objectives. Delays at startup (which resulted from the coordination efforts required to bring on board eight countries and several international agencies) have now been overcome. A satisfactory implementation plan has been adopted as part of the mid-term review completed recently. The recipient's request for extension has been endorsed by all participating countries in a Project Steering Committee involving representatives from Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, and Tanzania. This will be the first extension of the project.
