Achievements include recent successful prosecution of pirates in the region

1. ECOWAS on track to deliver on maritime security in West Africa
Achievements include recent successful prosecution of pirates in the region
ABUJA, NIGERIA, 8TH
NOVEMBER 2021 – The 3rd
Programme Steering Committee (PSC) meeting for
the Support to West Africa Integrated Maritime Security (SWAIMS) project was held late last week,
Thursday, 4th
November 2021. SWAIMS is a project of the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) Commission. The project is funded by the European Union (EU).
The meeting was jointly chaired by Dr Cyriaque Agnekethon, ECOWAS’ Director of Peacekeeping and
Regional Security and Cécile Tassin-Pelzer, First Counsellor and Head of Cooperation at the EU
Delegation to ECOWAS and Nigeria. Attending was Col Abdourahmane Dieng, PhD, Head of
ECOWAS’ Regional Security
Division, as well as
representatives of SWAIMS
implementing partners:
Académie régionale des
sciences et techniques de la
mer – Institut de sécurité
maritime interregional
(ARSTM–ISMI, Abidjan, Côte
d’Ivoire), the Regional
Maritime University (RMU,
Accra, Ghana), Inter-
Governmental Action Group
against Money Laundering in
West Africa (GIABA, an
ECOWAS agency), Instituto Camões (Portugal) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC).
Both chairs and the ECOWAS Head of Regional Security commended the implementing partners for
successfully bringing activities back on track despite the pandemic. Outstanding achievements
include the recent successful prosecution of pirates in Nigeria and Togo with support from SWAIMS’
legal component implemented by UNODC.
ARSTM–ISMI and RMU have jointly trained more than 90 professionals from 12 ECOWAS countries,
among them law-enforcement agents, prosecutors and private-sector professionals, while UNODC is
running targeted workshops on standard operating procedures to facilitate inter-agency cooperation
in maritime security.
Adapting to the new realities of the pandemic, SWAIMS has thus far hosted nine online workshops
for civil society organisations (CSOs) and the private sector. In-person events have recently resumed
providing succour, training and awareness-raising for those most affected by maritime crime,
namely civil society and the private sector.
In addition to current achievements, there is much more in the pipeline including the delivery of
rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIBS) to ECOWAS’ 12 littoral countries, and technical equipment to all

2. the 3 ECOWAS Multinational Maritime Coordination Centres (MMCCs), the ECOWAS Regional Centre
for Maritime Security in Western Africa (Centre régional de sécurité maritime de Afrique de l'Ouest –
CRESMAO) and national Maritime Operational Centres MOCs in the ECOWAS region.
These ongoing efforts by ECOWAS member states with support from the EU have significantly
contributed to turning the tide on maritime insecurity, giving rise to anticipation of a brighter and
more maritime-secure future not only for ECOWAS member states in particular, but also the global
maritime community at large.
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