France, UN launch Gulf of Guinea anti-piracy operation

France, UN launch Gulf of Guinea anti-piracy operation

France has launched a three-year plan to train local forces and provide surveillance for anti-piracy operations in Benin, Togo and Ghana.

The aid, which is part of international efforts to curb insecurity from spreading in the oil-producing Gulf of Guinea, comes after the United Nations Security Council last month pledged to look at ways of tackling the problem, which has long affected Nigeria's Niger Delta region but has spread, hurting Benin's shipping industry in particular.

"The increased number of kidnappings and the escalating costs for commercial shipping and extraction of resources are clearly a threat to the growth, development and therefore the stability of countries in the Gulf of Guinea," France's ambassador to Benin, Jean-Paul Monchau, said on Thursday.

France has pledged to spend 5.2 billion CFA francs on training local forces and buying two surveillance aircraft from French firm LH Aviation, the ambassador said.

Increasing shipment cost

The Gulf of Guinea, a stretch of West Africa's coast spanning more than a dozen countries, is a growing source of oil, cocoa and metals to world markets.

While piracy has not touched the scale of the attacks off Somalia, it is on the increase and navies in the region lack the means to counter it.

London's marine insurance market has added Benin to a list of areas deemed high risk due to an escalation of pirate attacks, driving up shipping costs and dissuading firms from stopping at the country's ports.

Analysts say the spike in piracy is partly due to the movement of gangs along the Nigerian coast to neighbouring countries due to pressure from the cost monitoring team.

Nigeria, Spain and the United States are also involved in helping Benin try and control the sea gangs.

UN team to visit Nigeria, Gulf of Guinea countries

In a related development, a UN team will also visit Nigeria and other Gulf of Guinea countries next week to assess the scope of piracy threat in the region. 

A UN spokesman told reporters at the UN meeting on Thursday that the mission would make recommendations for possible international support to counter piracy in the region.

The mission is co-led by the Director of the Africa II Division in the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA), Sammy Kum Buo, and the Country Representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Nigeria, Mariam Sissoko.

Visit schedule

The mission will visit Cotonou from November 7 to 16; Abuja, November 17-19; Libreville, from November 20 to 21 and Luanda, from November 22 to 24.

The delegation is scheduled to meet with representatives of the ECOWAS, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Gulf of Guinea Commission, as well as Government officials and relevant national counterparts in each country.

In October, a Nigeria-sponsored resolution adopted by the Security had condemned all acts of maritime piracy and armed robbery at sea in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea.

The Council welcomed the intention by States in the region to convene a summit to consider a comprehensive response to the menace.

The assessment mission is expected to brief the Council on its findings and recommendations after completion of assignment. 

Reuters/NAN/Adekusibe/Williams