The flavour of the existing cooperation in the Gulf of Guinea

It might not be possible within one thousand words to describe all the programs and activities to support and foster local and regional maritime cooperation and coordination to fight maritime crimes in the Gulf of Guinea. Reduce "sea blindness", increase maritime domain and situational awareness, improve the rule of law are just some areas where capacity building projects are the focus. For this specific article, just a few projects are named and reflect a piece of but touching some of the stakeholders already focusing on capacity building, either multilaterally or bilaterally.

The European Union (EU) is one of the key contributors in fostering inter-regional maritime security cooperation in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG). Since 2016, the EU has announced more than €60 million for GoG maritime security capacity building programs (Husted, 2019). These programs support Integrated Maritime Strategies to increase security in the GoG through a combined approach in the legal, operational and technical aspects.

The EU External Action Service Homepage [1] includes the ongoing maritime security activities and capacity building programs funded by the EU [2], where programs like Gulf of Guinea Interregional Network (GoGIN), Support to West Africa Integrated Maritime Security (SWAIMS) and Improved regional fisheries governance in Western Africa (PESCAO) are just some of the examples of the ongoing programs. It is essential to mention that GoGIN, ending in August 2021, started early this year to train, even virtually, the users of one of the leading project outcomes, the Yaoundé Architecture Regional Information Sharing, to support maritime operations in the region.

The European Union Maritime Security Strategy (EUMSS) promotes Maritime Multilateralism (European Union, 2014, p. 5), establishing an open door for maritime domain cooperation in the GoG. However, the EU Strategy on the Gulf of Guinea does not mention organisations (or alliances like NATO) on their way forward or enhance security in the GoG. Nevertheless, a set of complementary activities based on Alliance maritime knowledge, experience, and resource availability would contribute to crisis management, cooperative security and maritime security in the GoG region (NATO, 2011).

The EU Coordinated Maritime Presences (CMP) concept in the GoG, approved late January 2021, might be an initiative, out of CSPD, to provide an opportunity to enhance the EU's role in maritime security in that specific region. This concept is meant to create synergies and enable coordination between the EU Member States or partners in the region, focusing on the Coastal States (Mergener, 2019). The CMP concept could be an entry point and a foundation for follow-on coordination, exchanging with other international organisations.

Another actor with relevance in the region is the G7++ Friends of the Gulf of Guinea [3] (G7++). This group, which includes EU and NATO members, endeavours to advance maritime security in the region, focusing on capacity building and facilitating coordination for various multilateral initiatives. The G7++ established the Maritime Trade Information Sharing Centre (MTISC-GoG), which was replaced in 2016 by the Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade – Gulf of Guinea (MDAT-GoG) (Pichon & Pietsch, 2019). The G7++ can be a platform to increase trust, promote stability, and gain and maintain situational awareness on multilateral project development, avoiding duplication and bridging the gaps in some of the programs.

Since 2018, the Portuguese Ministry of Defence has been developing the Atlantic Centre for Defence Capacity Building which aims to be a multinational centre of excellence dedicated to defence capacity building in the Atlantic. In its first seminar [4] in February 2020, the centre presented and discussed "the idea with potential partners, to determine their take on what the centre can provide". This event focused, in particular, on the issue of maritime security in the GoG (IDN, 2020, p. 11). During this seminar, His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Togo, Mr Robert Dussay, highlighted the role of cooperation between the Navies present in the GoG as an "essential contribution for the reduction" of maritime insecurity, but also the need to think about a new broader security vision to counter the growing activities of terrorist groups in West Africa, which are now moving to littoral cities (IDN, 2020, p. 14).

Bilateral initiatives have also provided the GoG States with a wide range of financial, logistical, and material support to tackle maritime insecurity challenges. Some key contributors are France, the United States and the United Kingdom. Chinese bilateral efforts cannot be overlooked due to their significant investments in military infrastructure and port facilities (IISS, 2020, p. 443). However, many Chinese actions are not directly related to enhancing maritime security.

The shipping industry is also an essential player due to its economic role in a region which generates most of its revenue through exporting natural resources. Such trade drives the international community to maintain a naval presence in the region. However, this presence is based on international political will and is therefore likely to fluctuate whenever higher priorities arise. The freedom of navigation on the trading routes is a fundamental reason for the international community to support better information flows and coordination via initiatives like the Yaundé Code of Conduct architecture. 

Map all the activities contributing to improving maritime security in the GoG seems to be a great challenge. It is for sure, and need to be made. Map these activities and project, and characterising them in some areas, including, but not exclusively, the regional and local requirements, expected outcome and contributing entities are essential to finding duplication and bridge the fundamental gaps to ensure efficiency and effectiveness coordinated projects, contributing to the development and economic growth based on security

Notes

[1] (https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en).

[2] Capacity-building – or capacity development – efforts are by no means an engagement mode exclusively used by external actors when responding to maritime insecurity problems (Jacobsen, 2017).

[3] Belgium, Brazil (observer), Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States. The EU, the UN Office United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and INTERPOL also participate in this group.

[4] The seminar's main objective was to gather input from experts and policymakers working on various security dimensions in the Atlantic to provide a more reliable, informed and updated conceptual and operational basis for the future Atlantic Centre.

Works Cited

European Union. (24 June 2014). European Union Maritime Security Strategy. Brussels: Council of the European Union. Obtido em 23 February 2021, de https://register.consilium.europa.eu/doc/srv?l=EN&f=ST%2011205%202014%20INIT

Husted, T. F. (26 February 2019). Gulf of Guinea: Recent Trends in Piracy and Armed Robbery. Congressional Research Service. Access on 28 February 2021

IDN. (06 de 2020). Atlantic Centre for Defence Capacity Building. (L. Cunha, Ed.) Instituto da Defesa Nacional - Cadernos, 38.

IISS. (2020). The Military Balance 2019. The annual assessment of global military capabilities and defence economics. The International Institute for Strategic Studies. The International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Mergener, H. U. (03 September 2019). Informal EU defense ministers' meeting: agreeing on a concept of coordinated maritime presence. Access on 2021, de Europ?ische Sicherheit & Technik: https://esut.de/en/2019/09/meldungen/international/15226/informelles-eu-verteidigungsministertreffen-einigung-auf-ein-konzept-der-koordinierten-maritimen-praesenz/

NATO. (17 de 06 de 2011). Alliance Maritime Strategy. NATO website. Access on 27 February 2021, de https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_75615.htm

Pichon, E., & Pietsch, M. (2019). Piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Africa: EU and Global Impact. European Parliament. doi:10.2861/78273

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