Brussels, 10/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - The EU will be contributing up to €4.5 million for a new project to enhance the security and safety of shipping routes between seven African countries in the Gulf of Guinea (Benin, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Sao Tomé-e-Principe and Togo). The project will be rolled out implemented from January, the European Commission announced on Thursday 10 January.
Known as CRIMGO (critical maritime routes of the Gulf of Guinea), the programme will allow coastguards to be trained and a network to be set in place allowing information to be exchanged between the countries and agencies of that region, in order to make shipping and merchant transport routes safer and, in the longer term, to improve maritime governance. “Without security, development can never properly reach the people it needs to. That's why our new project, which will help to boost transport security in Western Africa, is so crucial”, said Andris Piebalgs, Development Commissioner.
The EU's contribution will be funded by the EU Instrument for Stability (IfS). Other partners include: France Expertise International (France), the Direction de la Coopération de Sécurité et de Défense (France), the Direção-Geral do Polítca do Mar (Portugal), the Fundación Internacional y paralberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas (Spain), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (UK), the Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (Finland), the International Maritime Safety Security Environment Academy (Italy), and the Szczecin Maritime University (Poland).
The Gulf of Guinea currently accounts for 13% of oil and 6% of gas imports to the EU. However, piracy and armed robbery, as well as drug, arms and human trafficking, pose a real threat to the security of the region. The trans-regional programme started in 2009, with activities concentrated in South East Asia, the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Guinea. (AN/transl.jl)