From strategy to action: revamping Africa's maritime framework for economic growth and security

This year marks the end of the Decade of African Seas and Oceans (2015-2025), an African Union (AU) initiative to promote the sustainable use and governance of Africa’s marine and coastal resources. 

By 2025, the continent should have benefited from insights into best practices for combating maritime threats, protecting and restoring marine ecosystems and biodiversity, and assessing the strengthening of institutional capacities. 

Instead, the past decade has exposed significant shortcomings at the AU level in tackling maritime priorities, with widespread gaps in implementation, coordination and political commitment. Progress must be urgently assessed and objectives refined. 

To correct course, the first step is revising Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS 2050), which provides a vital institutional anchor for achieving Africa’s flagship economic growth and development projects. The strategy must address emerging threats, such as critical infrastructure vulnerabilities to cyberattacks, maritime terrorism and trafficking, which are outpacing capacities to respond at national, regional and international levels. 

The AU’s Office of the Legal Counsel has had a mandate for more than a decade to update AIMS 2050. The AU could explore options such as pooling existing budget allocations from other departments and sourcing external funds to avoid more delays.

The updated strategy should reflect the dynamic nature of maritime security issues while incorporating technological advancements such as AI-driven surveillance and autonomous vessels. New continental leadership is also needed, along with greater African participation in organisations like the International Seabed Authority and International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Africa has many maritime initiatives such as the Africa Blue Economy Strategy, Yaoundé Inter Regional Coordination Centre and Djibouti Code of Conduct. Nevertheless, AIMS 2050 remains essential, providing a continental cross-cutting framework for better maritime governance. But to secure concrete support from member states, the strategy must be more actionable.

A champion country is needed to lead and underwrite these efforts. Apart from Togo, which struggled to deliver some of its commitments made at the 2016 AU summit in Lomé, an additional anchor state has yet to step forward.

Although AIMS 2050 is vital, Africa’s maritime security demands practical readiness, not just better strategy. So the second step in correcting course is convening Amani Africa III – the AU’s training and evaluation exercise that assesses the African Standby Force’s (ASF) capacity to plan, deploy and manage collective responses to continental maritime security threats.

In 2022, the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) called for an ASF maritime command post exercise, and several planning meetings followed in 2024. While the ASF relies on member states contributing assets like ships and personnel to undertake naval operations, training exercises can help build an adequate maritime security capability across Africa. 

Third, the Revised African Maritime Transport Charter must come into force – and just three more countries’ ratifications are needed for that to happen. More modern maritime transport will enable the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to reach its potential, and align Africa’s maritime framework with its economic aspirations.

As AfCFTA advances, maritime transport and port infrastructure will become critical for intra-African trade. Once the charter is active, signatories are compelled to standardise maritime regulations, enhance port infrastructure and streamline cross-border trade. 

There are also massive implications for maritime security. For instance, the necessary surge in maritime traffic to facilitate economic growth – including larger cargo volumes and new shipping routes – will increase the need for surveillance and law enforcement in African waters. This is because the growth in shipping will inevitably attract illegal activities like smuggling, human trafficking and piracy. 

Fourth, the AU PSC must convene more frequently on maritime security. Proactive discussions will signal a commitment to “African solutions to African problems”, presenting a unified position that reduces dependence on external actors. 

The PSC should also use the three current African UN Security Council members (Algeria, Sierra Leone and Somalia – the A3) to champion maritime issues. While the A3 should lead on coordination, any diverging priorities among them will weaken their collective influence on the council, and need to be ironed out. 

This is especially pressing as the UN Security Council includes key maritime countries this year: Denmark, home to the giant global shipping company Maersk; Greece, which owns one of the world’s largest merchant fleets; and Panama, with the world’s largest ship registry and the site of the strategically vital Panama Canal. 

Fifth, rising sea levels, severe weather events and biodiversity loss underscore the vulnerability of African coastal zones and island states. The Third UN Ocean Conference in June provides a timely platform for Africa to highlight its ocean governance successes and advocate for greater investment in the blue economy. 

Showcasing innovative solutions and partnerships can attract much-needed resources for African maritime initiatives – such as increasing public interest in healthier oceans and private investment in sustainable blue economic sectors. 

By emphasising its achievements, Africa can assert itself as a proactive contributor to global ocean governance, amplifying collective economic and environmental interests. DM

Timothy Walker, Senior Researcher, Maritime, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Pretoria.

First published by ISS Today.