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The wide range of international maritime stakeholders have been urged to increase their levels of cooperation and collaboration by President of the Republic Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
“No nation can afford to do it alone. Ghana, being cognizant of her responsibilities as a coastal state, is playing her part in collaborating with the international maritime community towards enhancing maritime security in the region and on the entire African continent,” he said.
That is why, “the African Maritime Forces Summit and Naval Infantry Leaders Symposium, thus, provide us with a unique opportunity to strengthen our partnerships, and enhance our collective capabilities.”
President Akufo-Addo said this at the opening of the second African Maritime Forces Summit and third Naval Infantry Leadership Symposium Africa in Accra on Tuesday, 30th April, 2024.
Held under the theme, “Cooperation at Sea: Safeguarding African Maritime Security”, President the African Maritime Forces Summit and Naval Infantry Leaders Symposium, provide us with a unique opportunity to strengthen our partnerships, and enhance our collective capabilities through constructive dialogue, exchange of best practices, and exploring innovative solutions to the maritime security challenges facing our continent.
Acknowledging the Gulf of Guinea region as a vital conduit for global trade linking the Middle East and Asia to Europe and the Americas, as well as the increasing investments in the region, particularly in offshore oil and gas infrastructures, he stated that the region’s maritime and coastal traffic will inevitably rise along with its growing wealth and geostrategic significance. However, the region must also contend with both established and emerging maritime security threats.
Although he acknowledged that these transnational crimes pose a serious danger to regional and national peace and security and severely impair the economy of both coastal and non-coastal governments, he was pleased to point out that, “piracy and armed robbery at sea, which are the most visible symptoms of insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea, have, as a result of the co-ordination of efforts of the Nigerian and Ghanaian navies, been appreciably suppressed” and though they still remain important threats to national and regional maritime activities.
it is in lieu of this, he continued, that is why it is “imperative that we foster greater co-operation and collaboration amongst African maritime forces. By working together, sharing intelligence, and coordinating our efforts, we can address effectively maritime security threats, and safeguard our maritime domain.”
He noted that, to this end, several collaborative efforts have been advanced by African countries which included regional collaborations between neighbouring countries to improve the approach to dealing with maritime crimes such as the operationalisation of the Yaoundé Code of Conduct to deal with maritime crimes and the revision of the Gulf of Guinea Commission, which had been moribund for some time, to contribute to securing the peace and stability of the Gulf of Guinea.
On the part of Ghana, he pointed out government’s commitment towards the retooling of the Ghana Navy and the Ghana Armed Forces, amply demonstrated in the commissioning of some twenty vessels for the Navy with the process of acquiring two Offshore Patrol Vessels for the Navy also far advanced as well as the building of a new Naval Base in the Western Region which is also nearly completed.
“These investments would help safeguard the security of our maritime space, and lead to an accelerated growth of our blue economy. Other African countries have shown similar commitments, and collaboration with our key partners have ensured the significant improvement in the security of Africa’s maritime domain.”
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
