Anti-piracy measures – African shipping and maritime security and safety experts gathered in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Tuesday to discuss proposed new policies to improve maritime security in Africa, the African Union (AU) said here.
The experts are meeting from 6-7 April, 2010, to discuss ways of sharing information on maritime security and safety among AU member states.
The experts will discuss a proposal, which include the African Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIM-Strategy), a step toward a holistic policy to address this matter, the AU said.
“The experts will therefore cover threats and vulnerabilities such as natural disasters and environmental degradation, environmental crimes, illegal fishing, oil bunkering, money laundering, illegal arms and drug traffic, human trafficking, maritime terrorism and piracy and armed robbery,” the AU said.
Speaking during the opening of the meeting, AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, Mrs. Elham Ibrahim, noted that âœfor years, African states have been mostly concerned by the declining capacity of their maritime industry.”.
However, recently, the growing menace of unlawful activities on African waters and the rapid escalation of piracy activities off the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Guinea has meant that more attention also be given to matters of maritime security.
It also served as a “wake-up call to the leadership in Africa to take concrete action to rid the continent of these scourges which are undermining economic activity and the image of the continent,” Ibrahim said.
“As we move from talking to taking concrete action, my message has been of underscoring on the necessity of putting in place practical measures that would lead us to achieve real milestones in addressing each and every issue related to the current maritime security situation in Africa,” she said.
Speaking on behalf of Malawi, which is chairing the union, Mr. Ernest Makawa emphasized the need to take action for maritime safety and security in order to protect fisheries which make “a vital contribution to the food and nutritional security of 200 million Africans and provide income for over 10 million.”
Makawa invited the experts to bear in mind that a threat-free maritime domain is a prerequisite âœfor an integrated and prosperous Africa.”
He called for a related African endeavor to address maritime security while the variety of actors threatening Africa’s maritime domain continues to grow.
Makawa called for three steps that the AIM-Strategy should achieve: suitability, acceptability and feasibility.