Photo: Christopher Griner.
Although the sea is a source of great wealth for Africa, piracy, narcotics trafficking, arms smuggling, and other transnational threats present a significant threat to the continent’s security, jobs, food supply, and trade. The Africa Center for Strategic Studies has compiled a collection of analyses, research, and lectures that present challenges of and methods for securing the maritime domain.
Video
Africa Is an Island: Maritime Safety and Security
December 2016
Africa Center Professor of Defense Economics and Resource Management Assis Malaquias discusses insecurity, piracy, illegal fishing, and other maritime threats at a workshop on Africa’s Contemporary Security Challenges hosted by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in December 2016.
Toolkit
National Maritime Security Strategy Toolkit
By the Africa Center for Strategic Studies
July 27, 2016
This toolkit is intended to assist policymakers and practitioners as they navigate the process of developing maritime national security strategies in Africa.
Video
Contemporary Maritime Security Challenges in Africa I
May 2016
Assis Malaquias, Professor and Academic Chair, Defense Economics and Resource Management at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, discusses maritime security at the African Center’s Senior Leaders Seminar in May 2016.
Video
Contemporary Maritime Security Challenges in Africa II
May 2016
Ian Ralby, Adjunct Professor of Maritime Law and Security at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, goes beyond a conceptual discussion of maritime issues to analyze specific examples of threat trends in North, East, and West Africa and the process and results of the international response at the African Center’s Senior Leaders Seminar in May 2016.
Spotlight
Maritime Safety and Security: Crucial for Africa’s Strategic Future
March 4, 2016
Africa’s 16,000-mile coastline gives two-thirds of its countries direct access to a sea of riches. The maritime domain offers enormous earning potential through fishing and tourism. It serves as a major cultural reference point and a vital source of livelihoods for both coastal and inland communities.
Video
Maritime Strategy in Africa
October 2015
Assis Malaquias, Professor and Academic Chair, Defense Economics and Resource Management at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, discusses maritime security at the African Center’s Next Generation of African Security Sector Leaders program in October 2015.
Spotlight
Africa Center’s Assis Malaquias Recognized for Work on Maritime Security
By the Africa Center for Strategic Studies
July 30, 2015
The U.S. Department of State has honored the Africa Center’s Dr. Assis Malaquias with an award recognizing his unique contributions in advancing maritime security efforts in Africa. Dr. Malaquias has been leading the Africa Center’s maritime security portfolio since 2009.
Spotlight
Fundamental Security Challenges Nigeria Must Face, Part 7: Maritime Security
May 27, 2015
One fundamental security challenge Nigeria’s leaders must face lies at sea because he security of the Gulf of Guinea is integral to the country’s economic health.
Africa Security Brief No. 30
Combating Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
By Adeniyi Adejimi Osinowo
February 28, 2015
Stronger national, regional, and international political commitments are needed to reverse the worsening trend of maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea.
Spotlight
Expert to African Leaders: Do Not Ignore the Maritime Domain
August 1, 2014
“Maritime security is an integral part of a nation’s overall economic performance,” maritime security expert Loïc Moudouma said in a seminar held at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. He was speaking to a gathering of senior U.S. officials, academics and researchers and members of the African diplomatic corps.
Africa Security Brief No. 10
Investing in Science and Technology to Meet Africa’s Maritime Security Challenges
By Augustus Vogel
February 28, 2011
A growing number of Africa’s security challenges—narcotics trafficking, piracy, illegal fishing, and armed robberies, among others—take place at sea. Illicit actors exploit Africa’s maritime space given its expansiveness and the limited number of vessels African governments can field to interdict this activity. Technology can dramatically improve Africa’s maritime security coverage.
Africa Security Brief No. 2
Navies versus Coast Guards: Defining the Roles of African Maritime Security Forces
By Augustus Vogel
December 31, 2009
Piracy, illegal fishing, and narcotics and human trafficking are growing rapidly in Africa and represent an increasingly central component of the threat matrix facing the continent. However, African states’ maritime security structures are often misaligned with the challenges posed and need coast guard capabilities and an array of intra-governmental partnerships.
Africa Center Expert
- Raymond Gilpin, Dean of Academic Affairs