Safety coordination centre responds to threats

A multinational maritime coordination centre has been opened in Cotonou, Benin, by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to respond to security threats and other maritime issues along the territorial waters of Togo, Niger, Benin and Nigeria on the Gulf of Guinea. While piracy in Somalia’s Gulf of Aden on the African east coast is currently on the decline, it has spread to West Africa. Although most attacks in the region take place in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, there have also been attacks in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Togo, among others, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Speaking at the opening of the centre, Benin president Boni Yayi said: “Only through collaborative initiatives such as the operational zoning of our maritime borders can much be achieved in the area of maritime security.” Revenues to the government of Benin are reported to have been directly affected by the rise in piracy in the region. Taxes on trade account for half of government revenue, and 80% of these are derived from the port of Cotonou, according to UNODC figures published in March 2013. In 2014 a rise in West African piracy resulted in the London-based Lloyd’s Market Association listing Nigeria, neighbouring Benin and nearby waters in the same risk category as Somalia.