Piracy in Africa: The End of a New Beginning

Maritime insecurity in Africa, particularly in connection with acts of piracy, has constituted an important field of study for security researchers in recent years.

It has also frequently made local and global media headlines. Despite this trend, the focus in recent reports is starting to shift away from alarm towards detailing the diminishing threat of piracy around Somalia. Large-scale pirate activities there appear to be on the wane, but in what ways can we reasonably expect 2013 to be different from the past, in East Africa and elsewhere?

So far in 2013 the most notable event has been the increase in piracy incidents off the West African coast, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea. This continues the trend in 2012 noted by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) where, despite a sizeable drop in the number of attacks in East Africa from 237 in 2011 to 75 in 2012, a total of 58 incidents were recorded in attacks off the West African coast in 2012, compared to 49 in 2011.

Increased naval patrols and capacity and the adoption of lessons and practices suitable to passage through these sea lanes and areas can account for the drop in attacks and might prompt hopes that piracy will eventually pose an insignificant security threat.

However, the attacks off West Africa differ from East African incidents mainly due to one factor - violent criminal acts are now connected with the movement of oil. The most recent attack took place off Côte d'Ivoire on 21 January 2013 when a large oil tanker named ITRI was hijacked, also demonstrating that the problem is not geographically limited to the Gulf of Guinea.

Crews in such cases are often assaulted while illegal oil bunkering occurs - a practice whereby the ship is drained of oil, which is subsequently spirited back to shore and either sold or refined.

This could result in oil spills, particularly around the already ravaged Niger delta. Offshore oil platforms, often seen as a means of avoiding land-based political instability, are now potential targets and frequently beyond immediate aid. Terrorist attacks on vulnerable installations could also occur, further prompting increases in the number of operations in partnership with the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM).

Many of these acts will be reported as being criminal rather than piratical, as they do not all occur in international waters but rather within the sovereign borders of states, which are set at 12 nautical miles offshore, and are thus subject to countries' own laws and legal systems, rather than being subject to international law as is commonly the case off Somalia.

Meanwhile, that of Nigeria is gradually gathering international attention though it is still largely localised. If the menace is not check appropriately, West Africa might degenerate into another Somalia just as the Islamists are allowed fertile grounds.

UN Security Council, Ecowas and Mali

UN Security Council and Ecowas to meet on Mali

France has called on the Security Council to hold a meeting to discuss the situation in Mali, where Paris intervened on Friday to help fight the Islamist insurgency there. The meeting will take place Monday afternoon, a spokesman for the French UN Mission Brieuc Pont, said in a tweet posted Sunday.

This comes as the French operation in its former African colony enters its third day. On Sunday, French fighter jets bombed strongholds in northern Mali, targeting airports as well as training camps, warehouses and buildings used by the Islamists controlling the area.  The militants are said to have links to al-Qaeda.

Ecowas on Monday made it known that the regional group will meet and discuss Mali. This comes after France, the erstwhile colonial master has taken up the challenge and lead to combat the Ansar Dine Islamists. The United Nations last year September gave Ecowas the green light to tackle the insurgency in Mali but the group decided to act in autumn giving the rebels more time to act and cover more tracks.

France has been heavily bombarding the rebels with heavy firepower but has met stiff and unflagging resistance from the islamists too. The rebels are reported to be in possession of heavy ammunitions with sophisticated trainings and military skills.