Countering piracy in the Gulf of Guinea requires not only regional, but global cooperation, as the lion's share of vessels coming under attacks in the region are foreign ones, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told Sputnik in an interview
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th February, 2021) Countering piracy in the Gulf of Guinea requires not only regional, but global cooperation, as the lion's share of vessels coming under attacks in the region are foreign ones, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told Sputnik in an interview.
The Gulf of Guinea in West Africa has been an epicenter of piracy. In 2020, 95 percent of all maritime kidnapping incidents happened in this region, which is also an important route for transporting oil, gas and other goods. In January, the European Union unveiled its coordinated maritime presence concept in the Gulf of Guinea to enhance coordination between member states' assets operating in the troublesome region.
"We believe that not only the EU, but other partners too, like Russia, based on the interests of Russia, could look into how it could help the countries of the Gulf of Guinea to better fight maritime insecurity because this insecurity does not only affect the countries of the Gulf of Guinea. The majority of ships that come under attack of the pirates are foreign ships," Dussey said.
In 2016, the minister recalled, the African Union convened the first extraordinary summit on maritime security. Back then, the member states adopted a special charter, which has yet to be ratified by several nations.
According to the diplomat, political will and collective efforts of all Gulf of Guinea countries are needed to fight piracy in the region, as no nation could succeed in it on its own.
"We need to move toward information sharing between the different zones, different states to assure collective security in the Gulf ... The difficulty that we face is a lack of coordination, of desire to work together against insecurity," Dussey continued, noting that African nations do not necessarily have to create a joint force to succeed in fighting piracy.
The problem is that now every country monitors only its own coast, "which is good but not enough," as not all nations have the same capabilities of arresting and fighting pirates, he explained. If they cannot do it properly, Dussey noted, "piracy continues, and that's what is happening now."
