Table 1.

Aggregated overview of national MSP structures and processes

Country	Angola	Namibia	South Africa
Lead ministry/Department	Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries	Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources	Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries
Ministries/Departments and (related) government institutions represented in the MSP-NWGs	Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Environment Ministry of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas Ministry of Economy and Planning Ministry of Transport Ministry of Defence Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry of Youth and Sport Ministry of Public Works and Land Use Planning Ministry of Energy and Water Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Ministry of the Interior Ministry of Foreign Affairs Agostino Neto University	Ministry of Mines and Energy Ministry of Works and Transport Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs Ministry of Urban and Rural Development Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform Ministry of Industrialization and Trade National Planning Commission National Commission on Research, Science and Technology University of Namibia Namibia University of Science and Technology	Department of Transport Department of Mineral Resources and Energy Department of Tourism Department of Science and Innovation Department of Defence Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Department of Public Works and Infrastructure Department of Communications and Digital Technologies Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Department of Sports, Arts and Culture South African National Biodiversity Institute South African Environmental Observation Network South African Maritime Safety Authority South African Navy Hydrographic Office Petroleum Agency South Africa Council for Geosciences South African Heritage Resources Agency
The NWG reports to	Presidential Commission for Maritime Affairs (through the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries)	Inter-Ministerial Blue Economy Committee (through the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources)	Directors-General Committee on MSP (through the Director-General for the Environment, Forestry and Fisheries)
Specialised NWG task teams on	EBSAs Data and information Stakeholder engagement	EBSAs Data and information Stakeholder engagement	Organization of the marine area planning process Stakeholder engagement and communication Data and information Marine area plan implementation
Number of sub-national planning areas	4	3	4 (including Prince Edwards and Marion Islands)
Pilot area for the first marine plans	Central planning area	Central planning area	Southern planning area
Aggregated status of the national-level MSP process	Knowledge baseline assessment completed Draft first plan completed, pending high-level approval	Knowledge baseline assessment completed Draft first plan currently finalized	Knowledge baseline assessment completed Draft plan elements for all three mainland plans currently developed
MSP legislation	Currently lacking, options are discussed	Currently lacking, options are discussed	Exists (Act No.16 of 2018)