Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea 2022

Описание: This webinar looks into the UN Security Council Resolution 2634, and the ways in which the international community and NATO could better support Maritime Security in the region. More information available below.
Full Report on www.thesouthernhub.org.

00:00
00:25 Dr. Ian Ralby – Initial Welcome
02:19 Brigadier General Aydin Kiliç – Welcome
05:11 Dr. Ian Ralby – Main Introduction
07:03 Dr. Ralby on why NATO might be the right forum for this discussion
08:40 Dr. Ralby on globalization of security threats and the need to confront adversaries worldwide
09:30 Dr. Ralby on the background of Gulf of Guinea
17:30 Amb. Dr. Namira Negm – opening remarks that transnational crime knows no borders
19:30 Amb. Negm – Resolution focuses not just on piracy, but also armed robbery and other transnational crime
21:50 Amb. Negm – Importance of following up on the proceeds of illicit crime, including terrorism
22:50 Amb. Negm – Highlighting the root causes of these issues is important
25:00 Amb. Negm – Reminder of the importance of sovereignty, as well as cooperation
26:40 Amb. Negm – Highlighting the importance of energy and the role of the Gulf of Guinea in preventing further global energy crisis
27:48 Dr. Ralby – Transition to next speaker
28:06 CAPT Dr. Kamal-Deen Ali
31:04 Dr. Ali – UNSCR 2634 builds on the previous resolutions 2018 and 2039, but is distinct in certain respects
32:00 Dr. Ali – talks about both transnational organized crime and sustainable development in the preamble
32:48 Dr. Ali – references the SUA convention to address terrorism, a new addition to this Resolution that was not covered in the previous ones
35:00 Dr. Ali – mentions root causes and African Union while neither were featured previously
36:20 Dr. Ali – what are the recourses? IUU fishing recourses? Oil theft recourses?
37:20 Dr. Ali – added mentions of democracy, women and human rights – women’s livelihoods in the maritime space are a critical point, and what are the human rights implications of the Danish frigate incident?


Background:

While piracy and armed robbery at sea may be at a 30-year low in the Gulf of Guinea, the conditions for the crimes have not been addressed, meaning that a resurgence remains possible, if not likely. The past year had also seen other significant security challenges, most notably Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ever-increasing globalization of insecurity, and the significant food price / availability crisis - few places on earth have a more active challenge with illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing than the Gulf of Guinea.

This confluence of issues and actors has led the NSD-S Hub to question whether NATO may have a useful role to play in addressing the maritime security challenges in the region. The online event that followed, on the 3rd of November 2023, centred on the UN Security Council Resolution 2634, and explored what, if any, assistance NATO could provide in implementing it.

The 3rd of November event at the Hub was split into two panels, each
with four panellists. The full event was moderated by Dr. Ian Ralby, CEO
of I.R. Consilium, an expert in maritime law and security, and moderator
of the 2021 event at the Hub, as well.

The first panel was titled “Substance and Strategic Significance of
UNSCR 2634: What Does it Say? What Does it Mean? And Why Was it
Necessary?” The four panellists were:

Ambassador Namira Negm, Director of the African Migration
Observatory and former Legal Counsel of the African Union

Captain Dr. Kamal-Deen Ali (Ghana Navy, ret.), Director of Centre
for Maritime Law and Security (CEMLAWS) Africa and former Legal
Advisor of the Ghana Navy

Professor Assis Malaquias, Dean of the United States Department
of Defense’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Mr. George Mangos, Principal at the Interunity Group


The second panel was titled “Options for Implementing UNSCR 2634
Through Both the Yaoundé Architecture and the African Standby Force.”
The four panelists were:

Dr. Dakuku Peterside, former Director General of the Nigerian
Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)

Rear Admiral Narciso Junior, Director of the Inter-Regional
Coordination Center in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Prof. Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood, Lecturer in Sustainable
Development at the University of St. Andrews

Captain Loïc Moudouma (Gabon Navy, ret), former Deputy Chief of
Naval Staff of Gabon

While these experts shared their experiences and insights generously,
they did so under the Chatham House Rule, so will not be quoted directly
in the following summary of the discussion.