INTRODUCTION

The Gulf of Guinea is an unbroken coastline which stretches from Cape Verde in West Africa to Angola in Central Africa. It holds huge economic potential for the fishing, shipping and maritime industries for many countries in West Africa. The recent discovery of off-shore hydrocarbon deposits in countries such as Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Senegal also makes the region of great strategic importance. However, over the past ten years, the area has increasingly become a hotspot for maritime insecurity with its associated trans-national organized criminal activities.

For instance, in 2011, the Gulf of Guinea had become one of the most dangerous spots for criminal activities at sea and by 2012 it surpassed that of the Gulf of Aden as the region with the highest number of reported piracy attacks in the world. This is especially alarming as the area is the main transit hub and facilitator to the region’s rapid economic growth and also a huge hub for global energy supplies with significant quantities of petroleum products consumed in Europe, North America and Asia transiting this waterway. The Gulf of Guinea waters also attracts illegal, unregulated and/or unreported fishing with 40% of the regions estimated catch projected to be in this category. Notwithstanding all these, the latest figures from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in 2017 reported 180 incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea globally, the lowest in 22 years. The report indicates that though the figures for maritime insecurity may be low, there are still areas of concern and the need for increased efforts.

Maritime insecurity and Transnational Organized Crime Networks hamper national development and erode international maritime security. They also create instability and foster breeding grounds for additional criminal activities, while negatively affecting at-risk youth and potentially enabling terrorist networks. For most countries in Africa, limited maritime capacities remain a challenge for law enforcement agencies. This course thus seeks to build or enhance the capacities of maritime security actors and other relevant stakeholders in critical issues pertaining to maritime security and transnational organised crime.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The two-week Maritime Security and Transnational Organized Crime Course is designed by and conducted at the KAIPTC to expose participants to relevant and current skills, expertise and best practices in the domain maritime security and transnational organized crimes within the broader African context in general and West Africa specifically. The course facilitation team will be composed of resource persons from Training Institutions in Africa and abroad, NGOs, Peacekeeping Practitioners, as well as academia among others.

COURSE AIM

The overall aim of the course is to train security sector actors in the maritime domain and explore its potential links to transnational organized crimes. The security sector actors will be updated on the newest trends of rule of law regarding maritime security and transnational organized crime in Africa as a whole, and West Africa to be specific. The course also aims to establish and foster regional cooperation and coordination between individuals and institutions engaged in maritime security and transnational crimes.

EXPECTED OUTCOME

At the end of the course, participants are expected to be equipped with;

• an understanding of the nature of maritime insecurity and how it enables the furtherance of transnational organised crime ;
• an enhanced ability to counteract piracy operations and transnational organized crime networks that operate and/or facilitate piracy
• the capabilities to minimise the impact of piracy and its symbiotic/enabling effects on transnational organized crimes (drugs, human trafficking, and terrorism etc) through education and awareness of new laws, techniques, tactics, procedures and policies.

TARGET GROUP

Set at the operational level, the course targets a mixed group of middle level security sector practitioners from the following:

• ECOWAS Maritime Security Structure officials
• Government officials, operational level staffers of legislative bodies/policymakers; and
• Security sector practitioners (Key representatives from civil society, Police, Border Police, Maritime Police, Navy, Militaries, Gas and Oil Platform (GOPLAT) Industrialists, intelligence actors, oil traders, and maritime/shipping/storage security officers) directly involved in operational planning and implementation of policies.
• Individuals and researchers in the area of maritime border security ;
• And non-state maritime security actors.

The selection process will strive to achieve gender balance of participants as much as possible.

COURSE CONTENT

The course is planned to cover the following modules:

• Introduction to West Africa and it’s security challenges
• Legal Frameworks on Maritime Security
• Maritime Terrorism /Piracy/Armed Robbery
• Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU)
• Introduction to Transnational Organized Crimes, Money Laundering and Drug Trafficking
• Human Trafficking / Migrant Smuggling
• Illegal Migration by Sea
• Small Arms Trafficking / Proliferation
• Criminal Investigation / -Intelligence
• Maritime Environmental Crimes
• Threat Assessment & Regional Maritime Security Arrangements
• Security Sector Reform
• Reintegration and Reorientation
• Human Security Management
• Scenario based exercises

To complement the classroom work, there will also be an educational tour to the following places:

• The Vessel Traffic Monitoring and Information System (VTMIS) of the Ghana Maritime Authority, Accra;
• Tema Harbour;
• Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre (MMCC) at the Christianborg Castle Osu, Accra;
• Eastern Naval Command for a Sea Trip.

METHODOLOGY

The problem-based learning approach will be used in the delivery of the ten-day residential course. Participants will play active roles in the learning process under the supervised guidance of a team of experienced facilitators. The course content will thus be delivered using a combination of tools such as; lectures, case studies, small group work exercises and simulation among others. The course will be conducted in both English and French.

HOW TO APPLY

Interested applicants are requested to kindly fill and submit an online application form

Access the application form using the link

Contact at KAIPTC

Mrs Marylyn Agblor
Training Coordination Officer
Tel. 00 233 (0) 302 718200 Ext. 1012
Fax. 00 233 (0) 302 718201
Email: marylyn.agblor@kaiptc.org

Cdr Solomon Asiedu-Larbi
Course Director
Tel.: 00 233 (0) 302 718200 Ext. 1102
Mob: +233 244260313
Email: Solomon.Asiedu-Larbi@kaiptc.org