Toward an African Maritime Economy: Empowering the African Union to Revolutionize the African Maritime Sector

Abstract

The high profile of Somali piracy has brought the issue of African maritime security to the attention of world leaders and citizens. This crisis, however, is not the only challenge facing Africa in the maritime; rather, it is a symptom of a much deeper problemthat Africa suffers from weak maritime governance and the lack of a harmonizing vision for an African maritime economy. Every year in Africa billions of dollars worth of fish is illegally captured, billions of dollars worth of drugs and arms are shipped overseas, pirates capture and hold for ransom hundreds of mariners operating commercial and private vessels, bandits steal maritime oil worth billions of dollars, and thousands of liters of waste are illegally dumped. Some of these crimes flow into Africa from abroad(including much of the illegal fishing and narcotics trafficking), while others (such as piracy) go from the inside out. These nefarious activities are global in their reach and require global action if we hope to eliminate their impact.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2011
Accession Number
AD1014489

Entities

People

  • Michael L Baker

Organizations

  • Council on Foreign Relations

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Africa
  • Agreements
  • Coast Guard
  • Commerce
  • Continents
  • Environmental Protection
  • Governments
  • International Relations
  • Law
  • Marine Transportation
  • Maritime Industry
  • Maritime Security
  • National Security
  • Task Forces
  • Training
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Economics
  • Naval Engineering and Maritime Security
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.