The Gulf of Guinea, a large area of the West African coastline from Gabon to Côte d’Ivoire — has become the new hotspot for piracy and illegal fishing. It is also the gateway through which SA’s more than €22bn annual exports to Europe pass. This is because multinational antipiracy and antipoaching operations off the Somali coast have been so successful that the world’s pirates and illegal fishing operations appear to have moved elsewhere. Pirate attacks have become increasingly violent, and Gulf of Guinea navies are weak, with only Nigeria possessing frigates. Aside from co-operation between small regional forces and naval support from the US’s African naval force, there is no multinational force at sea comparable with the EU and Nato’s counterpiracy task forces off the Somali coast. The SA navy wants to deploy a frigate and marines to the Gulf to assist local navies. The SAS Amatola, a frigate, is patrolling that coast on its way back from Germany — but it costs the navy R410,000/d...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.