Piracy in Africa: The ungoverned seas

Just a few years ago the most dangerous waters in the world were off the coast of Somalia, now it is the Gulf of Guinea that is the worst piracy hotspot. Incidents off West Africa have stretched all the way from the Ivory Coast to Angola, but the root of the problem is tied to Nigeria and its dysfunctional oil industry and violent politics of the Niger Delta. Widespread bunkering and a violent insurgency created the conditions for piracy to flourish. There tend to be spikes in both bunkering and maritime criminality before elections, which indicates that politicians are using illicit means to finance themselves and pilfering is thus expected to rise as Nigeria’s presidential vote nears in February. Mr. Hans Tino Hansen, CEO at Risk Intelligence, points out that the ransoms are being used for the election campaigns through a “feudal system”, in which politicians protect pirates in return for a cut of their profits. An added problem is that elections may divert the attention of the security agencies.