2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (2014)

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Date: 05 December 2017
• Citation: 2016 JOLGA 202
• Pages: 202-242
• Author: None
• Published date: 05 December 2017

202

2050 AFRICA’S INTEGRATED

MARITIME STRATEGY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Africa’s inland waters, oceans and seas are under pressure. Over the

years, traditional maritime activities, such as shipping or fisheries

have intensified, while new ones, such as aquaculture or offshore

renewable energy, emerged. However, the rise in intensity of

activities at sea is taking place against the backdrop of insecurity,

various forms of illegal trafficking, degradation of the marine

environment, falling biodiversity and aggravated effects of climate

change. In the past decades direct aggregate losses of revenue from

illegal activities in Africa’s Maritime Domain (AMD) amount to

hundreds of billions US dollars, not to mention the loss of lives.

The development agenda of the African Union (AU) promotes,

among other things, human capital development and improved

standard of living. It is inclusive and based on a human-centered

approach to development where all social groups are engaged. The

agenda sees an Africa using its own resources to take its rightful

place in a multi-polar, inter-reliant and more equitable world. In

the maritime domain of Africa, the wide variety of related activities

are inter-related to some extent, and all have a potential impact

on the prosperity derivative through their contributions to social,

economic and political stability, and safety and security. Notably,

therefore, the approach to regulation and management of maritime

issues and resources cannot be confined to a few select sectors or

industries.

In developing this 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime (AIM)

Strategy, it is recognized that the AMD has vast potential for

wealth creation. So also is the realization that AU Member States

have common maritime challenges and opportunities, and indeed,

significant responsibilities for generating the desirable political

will for implementing the Strategy.

Accordingly, the 2050 AIM Strategy provides a broad frame-

work for the protection and sustainable exploitation of the AMD

for wealth creation. The Strategy is the product of cross-cutting

inputs from African experts that includes Think Tanks, NGOs

and Academia, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Region-

al Mechanisms (RMs), AU Member States, specialized institutions

and other important stakeholders such as Maritime Organization

2016 JOLGA 202

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2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy

203

of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), African Port Management

Associations (APMA), Union of African Shippers Council (UASC),

Maritime Training Institutions, all MoUs on Port State Control, the

United Nations, the International Maritime Organization (IMO),

the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the In-

ternational Labour Organization (ILO), World Trade Organization

(WTO), World Custom Organization (WCO), International Cham-

ber of Commerce (ICC), Global Shippers Forum (GSF), Interna-

tional Hydrography Organization (IHO) and the private sector. It

is structured to address contending, emerging and future maritime

challenges and opportunities in Africa, taking into account the

interest of landly-connected countries, with a clear focus on en-

hanced wealth creation from a sustainable governance of Africa’s

inland waters, oceans and seas.

The Strategy integrates an annexed Plan of Action for its

operationalization with a clearly defined vision with achievable

goals, including specific desirable objectives, activities and

milestones towards attaining the Strategic End State of increased

wealth creation in a stable and secured AMD.

I INTRODUCTION

1

(1) Water covers more than two-thirds of the earth’s surface

and affects life everywhere. As the second biggest continent

and the largest island, Africa’s 43 million km2 area2 covers

one-fifth of the total surface of the Earth. Its total length

of coastline, including its islands, is over 26 000 nautical

miles. Thirty-eight (38) African countries are either coastal

or island States while fifty-two (52) of its over one hundred

port facilities handle containers and various forms of cargo.

Whilst African owned ships account for about 1.2% of world

shipping by number and about 0.9% by gross tonnage, the

ports handle only 6% of worldwide water borne cargo traffic

and approximately 3% of the worldwide container traffic.

(2) International trade is very critical to many African economies,

with over 90% of Africa’s imports and exports conducted by

sea. Over the past four decades, the volume of global sea

1 Except for footnotes 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 18, 25, 33, 44, 45, 50 and 51, all the

footnotes have been inserted by the editors.

2 Including the 13 million km2 of the exclusive economic zones of the

AU Member States.

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204 JOURNAL OF OCEAN LAW & GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA

borne trade has more than quadrupled. Ninety per cent of

world trade and two-thirds of energy supplies are carried by

sea. The world’s oceans and seas are interlinked, and action

in one sea or one policy area with a direct or indirect impact

on the sea may have positive or negative effects on other

seas and policy areas. Whilst over 46% of Africans live in

absolute poverty — a figure that is still rising — fish makes

a vital contribution to the food and nutritional security of

over 200 million Africans and provides income for over

10 million. Regrettably, Africa’s export of fish and fishery

products has not shown significant improvement in the past

decade. Likewise, the increasingly intense use of the oceans

and seas by various sectors, combined with climate change,

has added to the pressure on the marine environment.

(3) The AMD3 offers all African nations, vast growth opportu-

nities and a network of sea-lanes of enormous importance

for their security and prosperity. It is of huge importance

in terms of natural resources and energy, trade and indus-

try, scientific and leisure activities. International com-

merce by water affects people and industries throughout the

entire continent, including landly-connected countries. In

addition, the numerous vessels, ports, shipyards, and support

industries in the AMD provide thousands of jobs for

Africans. Clearly, disruptions or inefficiencies in Africa’s

maritime system with its supply chains and industries can

thus have a costly impact on a large number of participants

in the economies of many African countries.

(4) Accordingly, the development of the AMD requires innovative

solutions and careful management systems to ensure its

long-term sustainability, as well as the implementation of

national and international regulations and instruments

to address current challenges amidst new, shifting global

dynamics (eg, shifting geographic trade patterns, emerging

economic powers, environmental dynamics, etc.).

(5) The Anthem of the AU reads, in part, as follows: “O sons

and daughters of Africa, flesh of the sun and flesh of the sky,

let us make Africa the Tree of Life”. To bring this about, the

OAU, which formally became the AU in 2002, set itself the

goal to build, by the year 2025:

3 Africa’s Maritime Domain.

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