Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo has called for enhanced cooperation among countries bordering the Gulf of Guinea to address the growing insecurity in the region’s maritime space.
He stated that criminality in the maritime domain of the Gulf of Guinea posed a threat to the security and economic development of the region and that countries in the region’s geopolitical space must present a unified front to combat and eliminate the menace.
President Akufo-Addo issued the call at the opening of the Third Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) in Accra.
President Akufo-Addo, who serves as the Assembly’s chairman, called the high-level meeting to discuss tactics for enhancing peace and security in the GGC region in the fight against maritime-related crimes.
The session also included the swearing-in of the new members of the Commission’s Executive Secretariat.
Due to the interconnectedness of maritime activities, he emphasised the importance of collaboration and cooperation among the states of the Gulf of Guinea region.
“For us to have an effective and well-organized defence of the Gulf of Guinea Region, the countries in the Gulf of Guinea must be encouraged so that collectively, we can make a significant difference in maintaining maritime peace and security in the Gulf of Guinea region.
“Through well-coordinated collaboration and cooperation on matters of common interest among the members of the region, illegal activities at sea could be greatly reduced…Working together will enable us to build a safe, secure, and prosperous Gulf of Guinea region for sustainable development,” he said.
The Gulf of Guinea region has become a global hub for piracy, oil bunkering, robbery at sea, hostage-taking, human and drug trafficking, terrorism and corruption, illegal unregulated and unreported fishing, arms trafficking, environmental pollution, and smuggling.
The primary responsibility for combating this threat rests with the nations of the region, which must muster substantial political will at the subregional and regional levels to confront it.
Before the meeting went into a closed session, President Akufo-Addo indicated that the discussion would center on the collective interest of expanding the membership of the Gulf of Guinea Commission to include all West and Central African coastal states.
He emphasised the necessity of amending the 2001 treaty that established the Commission in light of recent events in the Gulf of Guinea.
“These are the items for the agenda in closed-door sessions to come up with strategies to win the fight against maritime-related crimes in the region, such as piracy, illegal unreported fishing, arms trafficking, pollution of the environment, smuggling, fuel, and crude oil theft.
“We shall continue to work to address these maritime security issues to help curtail and eradicate the menace caused by this criminality in the region so as to build a safe, secure, and prosperous Gulf of Guinea region for the sustainable development of our people,” he said.
On the meeting’s agenda is also a proposal for the possible expansion of the commission’s membership to include all 19 coastal states of the geopolitical Gulf of Guinea for the effective collaboration of Navies, Coast Guard, and other relevant maritime agencies in the Gulf of Guinea’s geopolitical space.
President Akufo-Addo emphasised that, for the expansion to take effect, the Commission’s treaty must be amended to permit the participation of all the coastal states in the region, from Cape Verde to Angola.
Since the establishment of the Commission in 2001, when Angola, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Nigeria, and Sao Tome and Principe signed the treaty in Libreville, Gabon, the commission has welcomed four new members: Equatorial Guinea in 2006, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon in 2009, and Ghana in 2017.
In the past, other countries in the region have expressed interest by attending GGC meetings and seminars, but they have not pursued their interest.
Akufo-Addo urged member states to demonstrate greater commitment to the GGC’s affairs and to fulfill their financial and other obligations to the commission.