Togo/Maritime Security: Protection of maritime space at the heart of a sub-regional meeting in Lomé
Nowadays, maritime areas of ECOWAS member countries are facing a resurgence of illegal and criminal acts, which have a significant impact on the blue economy. This is not without consequences for the economy in general, of each State. Hence the importance and relevance of this base of ECOWAS Chiefs of Staff.
The Chiefs of Staff of the ECOWAS Navy conclude their exchange meeting on Monday 16 October in Lomé. It is part of the 3rd meeting of the Subcommittee of Chiefs of Staff of the Navy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), opened Sunday, October 15 in Lomé.
The objective of this important meeting is to strengthen the mechanisms to meet the challenges of maritime insecurity in each Member State. In concrete terms, this involves examining the state of operations and the functionality of the community’s maritime centres, and strengthening regional cooperation in the fight against illegal maritime activities.
Fortunately, the actors in the field can rejoice in some good results obtained in the implementation of regional control strategies. Thanks to regional monitoring and response mechanisms, incidents of piracy and theft at sea have reportedly dropped drastically, from 68 in 2018 to 15 in 2022.
Also, in the first quarter of 2023, only 3 incidents were reported regionally. In 2021, Togo would have gone further in this commitment, by bringing maritime pirates to justice, a first in the West African sub-region.
