The European Union has contributed a variety of security equipment to the Economic Community of West African States, including 30 rigid-hull inflatable boats and forensic equipment.
This was revealed at an ECOWAS-hosted high-level maritime security symposium in Abuja on Monday, as part of the EU-funded Support to West Africa Integrated Maritime Security initiative.
The €5 million worth of equipment was anticipated to aid security forces in Nigeria and 11 other ECOWAS coastal states in their fight against crime and criminality.
Benin, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Togo are among the other recipients.
Col. Abdourahmane Dieng, the head of ECOWAS’ Regional Security Division, noted that maritime instability had long been one of the most persistent and intractable challenges to West Africa’s marine communities and economic development.
Turning the tide against marine insecurity, he claims, requires a collective effort that no single country or region can undertake alone.
He said, “For this reason, ECOWAS, in conjunction with the Economic Community of Central African States formulated the Yaoundé Code of Conduct as a foundation for broad-based regional maritime security along the entire Gulf of Guinea.
“Cognisant of this problem and its ramifications well beyond West Africa, ECOWAS launched its Integrated Maritime Strategy in 2014 with parameters for the development of the blue economy premised upon a coherent security framework.”
Dr. Axel Klein, the SWAIMS Team Leader, noted that the boats and forensic equipment will be provided by Portugal’s Cames, which will work closely with the Portuguese Navy to offer associated training and maintenance.
Besides Camões, other SWAIMS implementing partners are Institut de sécurité maritime interregional in Côte d’Ivoire, Regional Maritime University in Ghana, ECOWAS’ Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The boats and equipment, which are expected to significantly enhance the capacity of beneficiary countries to enforce the rule of law in their territorial waters and adjoining exclusive economic zones, will be supplied by 2024.
