28 November 2008: Protect Africa’s Coastal Waters

The recent high jacking of the Ukranian MV Fania off the coast of Somalia, in the Gulf of Aden, has again highlighted the inability of Africa to address piracy in African waters. The act of piracy is as old as the seafaring history, but what is alarming is that it is the first time that the highest level of piracy occurs within African waters. Three hundred and fifty four actual and attempted attacks occurred in the shipping lanes off the coast of Africa from 1993 – 2000. This figure has increased to 590 actual and attempted attacks between 2001 – 2007 and has already reached 64 by June for 2008. Of these 19 were in the Gulf of Aden, 15 on the East African coast and 30 in West Africa. Coastal shipping will grow in importance as African countries expand trade with one other, but these increases in piracy seriously undermine the prospects of such trade. This is just one domain that is seriously hampering the development of Africa as envisaged in the UN Millennium Development Goals.

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Over 66% of the world’s populations live within 160km of the sea. Over 150 of the 190 members of the UN are coastal states and 38 of the 54 countries in Africa are either coastal or island states. Most human maritime activity (fishing, exploration, shipping, tourism, etc) is conducted within the 200nm zone. This means that a substantial proportion of the world’s economic, and by implication political, activities are being conducted in a narrow strip of land and sea, on average, no wider than 500km.

In the 1970’s the coastal countries of the world realized the value and importance of managing their coastal waters. They extended their jurisdiction from 12 nautical miles, the immediate territorial sea, to 200 nautical miles for the exclusive economic zones (EEZ), and in some cases even further for the continental shelve. Nearly 40% of the world’s oceans have now been claimed as territorial and EEZ. This allows for inherent conflicts to develop between those who want to utilise or claim part of those resources and those who have the legal rights to exploit it. The UN recognised the requirement to manage the economic exploitation of the sea and drew up and facilitated the development of international legislation, like the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which was accepted as International Law in 1994. The states that have registered these claims have the exclusive right to administer and exploit the living and mineral resources of the territory, and can thus authorise the exploitation thereof for their own benefit. Many coastal states did however not comply with the legal requirements under the UNCLOS, to survey and administer the area, either through ignorance or inability. Regional collaboration and continental guidance is required to ensure the optimal utilisation of that which nature has so generously bestowed on Africa.

Limited benefits are however derived from the sea and countries lose substantial potential revenue to the exploitation by others because countries cannot control their EEZs. The poor management of maritime affairs in Africa further contribute to the avoidable loss of potential income. There are many role-players in the generic management of maritime aspects and resources, where the following serves as examples of the complexity thereof and will stress the importance for the alignment of efforts. All these activities impact on peace, security, stability and safety for all Africans and those that participate in our activities.

Transport departments are responsible for the safe passage of all shipping through territorial water, and approaches to harbours and ports. They will therefore be responsible for all charting and provisioning of navigation, in accordance with international obligations, with respect to the claimed zones. African Ministers of Transport have done a lot to guide their domain, but are unfortunately focusing only on transport issues, which are not integrated with all the following domains.
The trade and industry, or related departments will ensure regulations on imports/exports and will remove obstacles to encourage trade, but at the same time have to ensure no exploitation of resources to the detriment of the country.
Police/security services will have to enforce legislation, fight criminality with respect to smuggling (resources, drugs, minerals, people, etc), and have to maintain law and order within territorial waters.
Mineral affairs ensure the control over the exploitation of mineral resources on the coast and in the sea, like the extraction of fossil fuel energy (oil and gas), and the sea-mining for diamonds and other minerals. The mining of dunes might make mineral extraction sense, but might negatively influence tourism and/or nature conservation. In Nigeria oil accounts for 95% of exports, most of it from the Niger Delta and offshore fields. Nigeria has been estimated to lose some 10% of its annual oil production to theft, with oil drained from pipelines into bunker barges for transfer at sea. That is US$ 1.5 billion, or 1.4% of the gross domestic product (GDP).
The departments of defence, have the role of protecting all the above in the EEZ and to ensure safe passage for all shipping – free from piracy and other acts of violence on the high seas. Sub-Saharan Africa has 21 000 km of coastline and an EEZ 7.8 million km2. There are only 5 frigates, (four of them South African), 7 medium-range patrol aircraft (six of them South African), 60 vessels able to conduct limited offshore patrols,18 coastal patrol aircraft and 80 inshore patrol craft in that area. That is inadequate, especially as many of those ships and aircraft are not operational. Helmut Heitman, a defence specialist from Jane’s Defence Weekly, says that ‘you cannot protect what you do not control, and you cannot control what you do not patrol. Africa lacks the means to patrol its waters.’
Nature conservation, fishing and tourism are very much interdependent and decisions in one area will have an impact in various other areas and needs to be carefully managed for optimal usage. As example - illegal fishing cost Sub-Saharan Africa US$ 1 billion in 2005, and has seriously depleted fish stocks. In Senegal the fishing industry contributes 7% to the GDP, make up 33% of exports and contribute to 75% of the people’s animal protein intake.
Even departments concerned with art and culture has an interest in the management of the sea and its environment in that they are responsible for the preservation of shipwrecks and sites worth preserving for future generations.

Each one of the above activities impact heavily on the lives of all the people and governments should align or integrate their responsibilities to the optimal benefit of their populations. Many African countries have developed processes and procedures to align and integrate common objectives, but still many have been left out and the management of maritime aspects and resources remains fragmented. Many countries also do not have the expertise and/or capacity and it will require collaborations with neigbours or others to comply with the legal obligations.

Will the alignment of these activities not ultimately benefit of all the peoples of Africa? And is it not time that African governments assume responsibility for the management of all maritime related issues in an integrated manner? Departments within national governments, regional bodies, the African Union, industry, civil society and agencies need to work together to formulate a single protocol for the management of African maritime matters. They should define strategies and develop actions plans for the achievement of specific objectives, within realistic timeframes. Action is now required – Africa has waited to long!

Captain (Navy) Johan Potgieter, Security Sector Reform Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)