This sea blindness has resulted in many missed opportunities for a continent on which 38 countries have a combined coastline of more than 26,000 nautical miles (47,000km).
Our lack of a broader maritime culture has, too often, concealed from African leaders the oceans’ importance to development. Africa’s seas should contribute to economic and environmental security, but are too often a story of stolen resources, drowning refugees and missed opportunities.
This is shocking because more than 90% of Africa’s trade is seaborne, fishing contributes to food security for more than 200 million Africans, and vast oil and gas potential lies off the coast.
Even though maritime access gives Africa a major strategic advantage. Yet none of its 38 coastal states can fully claim sovereignty over territorial waters. Worthy to note is that two thirds of African countries share 16,000 mile coastline, which gives them direct access to a sea of riches. There is a lot of potential that the maritime domain offers in terms of earnings through fishing and tourism. Most importantly, access to the seas gives the continent a strategic advantage for international trade, diplomacy and national development.
For example, 90% of intra-African trade, including two-thirds of its energy supplies, arrives by sea, making it a vitally important economic engine, especially given recent offshore oil and natural gas discoveries in countries such as Angola, Mozambique, and Nigeria. The continent of Africa is encircled by the world’s primary maritime routes but shockingly, Africa’s share of global trade amounts to a measly two percent despite being home to more than 15% of the world population.
Africa’s maritime domain is also a source of insecurity that affects the continent’s stability. Piracy, narcotics trafficking, arms smuggling, and other transnational threats all thrive in Africa’s maritime space, undercutting government authority and investor confidence. Despite a plethora of warnings by various maritime security experts such as Dr Assis Malaquias of the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies that “there is no security without maritime security” there are very few security and economic policies that put more emphasis on maritime security due to a lack of awareness, political will, and resources. The insecurity that characterises Africa’s maritime domain has allowed global arms, narcotics, and human trafficking to flourish, as smugglers exploit Africa’s weak maritime law enforcement and customs procedures, the lack of government control over maritime domains, and corruption. As a result, the consequences of maritime insecurity have mushroomed. And while the old paradigm suggested that drug use was a mainly Western problem, many African countries have evolved from being a transit point to being important markets in the global narcotics trade, straining already weak public health systems, food security, law and order, and public safety.
Most African countries lack policies for ocean governance. Only a very few countries in Africa currently have dedicated coast guards, though many navies effectively conduct coast guard operations.
The lack of extensive maritime air surveillance and satellite imagery makes it almost impossible for African countries to effectively monitor their territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). The consequences are astounding as illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing is estimated to cost sub-Saharan Africa billions a year in lost revenue.
According to the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, close to half a billion Africans rely on fish for their protein intake, requiring 1.6 million tons of fish annually to maintain current consumption.
While this heavy demand is expected to increase to 5.2 million tons by 2030, Africa’s fish stocks are declining at an alarming rate, with major repercussions for social and political stability. In addition, according to the African Union, illegal fishing results in an annual loss of $10-15 billion, much of it occurring in Africa. Poor fishery management has cost the continent $50 billion since independence.
These fish resources are a magnet for illegal trawlers from many parts of the world who are thriving due to poor enforcement capacities. The long-term cost is a cause for concern. Malaquias notes that the fishing industry is indispensable to reducing extreme poverty in environments characterised by exponential population growth and rising levels of youth unemployment. Today the fish trade generates livelihoods for more than 100 million Africans, but as the coastal environment deteriorates, so too do family incomes.
Increasingly, African countries are taking note, and many are now starting to engage in a process that will lead to the development of comprehensive strategic frameworks for national maritime security.
It started at the regional level, first with the adoption of the Africa Integrated Maritime Strategy 2050, followed by the establishment of regional maritime security strategies by the Regional Economic Communities of Western, Central and Southern Africa. These frameworks now need to be translated into national strategies, according to Malaquias. National maritime security strategies are the building blocks of an effective regional strategy, cooperation around which is indispensable given the transnational nature of maritime threats such as illegal fishing, piracy and arms trafficking.
