Yaounde to host maritime security meeting

The Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, will host from 8 to 12 February, a high-level meeting on maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, said the Secretary-General of ECCAS, Allam-mi on Friday.

This is a special session of the annual meeting of senior officials of the interregional coordination center for the implementation of the Joint Strategy CEEAC-ECOWAS-CGG safety and maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, said Ahmad Allam -mi, during a press briefing on Friday in Libreville.

"The maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea is a complex phenomenon that affects the economic and political situation of the States of the Gulf of Guinea, with very serious consequences including those who do not have direct access to the sea," he said.

Many experts argue that transnational crime poses serious threats to security and maritime security, international peace and stability on the one hand, and economic development of States of Central Africa and Africa West, on the other.

According to Allam-Mi, these threats are manifold. They range from arms trafficking and drugs, through the human trafficking, piracy and armed robbery at sea, illegal fishing, and toxic waste landfill.

"I would rejoice to see the international community and sea operators still mobilized on a common strategic issue, which ECCAS and member states have seized since 2008," he said.

The need to implement a strategy of safety and Gulf of Guinea maritime security stems from a clear political will of the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Community Economic of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Gulf of Guinea Commission (CGG), to address this phenomenon, he said.

"I appeal to all my wishes for the mobilization of our states and seafood operators of our regional communities, the AU, and the international community so that together we press ahead with the joint efforts to strengthen the existing Union ..., "he added.

The Yaoundé meeting will consist of the review and validation of documents presented by a team of experts.