Maritime Security — Africa’s Competitive Weak Link

Executive Overview

Maritime security continues to be the critical vulnerability in Africa's port systems, impacting their competitiveness, ability to attract investment, and national sovereignty. Although ports across the continent are undergoing rapid modernization, challenges such as fragmented governance, reliance on foreign entities, and inadequate local enforcement persist.

During MaritimAfrica Week 2025 in Lomé (10-12 October), leading public and private stakeholders gathered to evaluate the current landscape of maritime security in Africa. Their consensus was clear: infrastructure alone, without robust security measures, turns into a liability rather than an advantage.

Africa’s Maritime Dilemma

Africa’s ports embody the tension between ambition and vulnerability. While governments promote large-scale infrastructure expansion, they often neglect the institutional backbone that ensures safe and efficient operations. The result is a fragile system exposed to piracy, smuggling, and corruption.

Speakers at Lomé highlighted three recurring deficiencies: excessive reliance on foreign partners, poor implementation of regional frameworks, and fragmented funding strategies. As one expert observed, “Ports are becoming modern in appearance, but fragile in substance.”

Institutional Landscape — Between Vision and Inertia

The Lomé Charter on Maritime Safety and Security (2016) was meant to be Africa’s strategic framework for a secure maritime domain, yet implementation has lagged. Similarly, the African Union Maritime Transport Charter, though finally entering into force in 2025—15 years after adoption—exemplifies chronic institutional inertia.

Amid this vacuum, some states have charted their own paths. Morocco, for instance, has overhauled its coast guard fleet and intensified cooperation with the European Union and United States, positioning itself as a continental leader. This demonstrates that investing in maritime security is not a cost but a catalyst for economic attractiveness.

However, many countries still treat port safety as secondary to expansion, a strategic miscalculation that undermines long-term competitiveness. As the think tank Le Rubicon warned:

“Without judicial reforms and effective enforcement at sea, the fight against maritime crime will remain unfinished.”

The Gulf of Guinea — A Case Study in Contradiction

The Gulf of Guinea epitomizes Africa’s maritime paradox: vast natural wealth and trade potential overshadowed by persistent insecurity. Piracy incidents may have dropped—from 26 in 2019 to 6 in 2024 according to the MICA Centre—but this progress was achieved through heightened militarization and costly naval patrols, not structural governance improvements.

The Yaoundé Architecture remains central to regional coordination, yet suffers from uneven commitment among member states, slow legal harmonization, and competing sovereignty claims. The result is a fragile peace—sustained more by vigilance than by resilience.

During MaritimAfrica Week 2025, Lomé’s leaders sought to frame maritime security within the broader “blue economy” narrative. But the contradiction remains stark: a port exposed to trafficking and smuggling cannot serve as a reliable logistics or financial hub.

PortSec in Cameroon — A Working Model

The PortSec SA initiative in Douala, Cameroon, offers a rare example of tangible progress. Through the Douala Port Security (DPS) program launched in 2019, PortSec combined technological innovation with training and coordination, deploying:

• Drone-based surveillance and long-range radar networks,
• Biometric access controls, and
• A specialized security academy for port personnel.

This model led to a 35% reduction in cargo theft between 2019 and 2023, improved response times, and enhanced cooperation under the Yaoundé framework.

PortSec’s experience demonstrates that African-led innovation—supported by regional alignment and targeted investment—can yield measurable security dividends. The real challenge lies in replicating and scaling such initiatives across countries with different fiscal, institutional, and political capacities.

Strategic and Economic Implications

The security of African ports is no longer a purely technical concern but a strategic determinant of economic sovereignty. Fragmented coordination continues to weaken deterrence against organized maritime crime, while dependency on external naval support risks undermining autonomy. The lack of judicial capacity and dedicated maritime budgets further amplifies vulnerability, discouraging private investment and increasing insurance premiums on African trade routes.

If African states are to turn their blue economy aspirations into tangible growth, they must integrate security as an intrinsic economic pillar—not an afterthought. This means harmonizing governance structures, funding regional patrol mechanisms, enforcing maritime law, and treating port protection as an investment in competitiveness, not as a defensive expense.

Outlook — From Vision to Capability

Africa’s maritime future depends on converting policy frameworks into operational capacity. This entails three imperatives:

1. Operational readiness, built on technology and human capital.

2. Governance coherence, aligning regional and national enforcement.

3. Financial autonomy, enabling sustainable domestic security investment.

Without this alignment, Africa’s deep-water terminals risk becoming “modern sieves”—impressive but porous, incapable of sustaining trade flows or investor trust.

Assessment

The Lomé forum reaffirmed a critical truth: maritime security is the foundation of economic credibility. Africa’s ability to control its ports will determine whether its trade corridors become engines of growth or channels of exploitation.

African Security Analysis (ASA) Assessment:
Africa’s maritime governance must evolve from dependency to sovereignty. The Douala PortSec model provides a clear proof of concept, but replication demands regional commitment and consistent investment.

What ASA Brings:
African Security Analysis (ASA) network offers more than observation—it provides operational intelligence, risk evaluation frameworks, and cross-regional security advisory capacity. ASA’s expertise in monitoring transnational criminal networks, mapping maritime vulnerabilities, and designing data-driven port security strategies positions it as a partner of choice for governments and private operators.

Through risk modelling, regional intelligence sharing, and strategic training programs, ASA can help African states transition from reactive defence to predictive and integrated maritime protection—ensuring ports become secure, credible, and economically resilient hubs of the 21st century.