The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the European Union have teamed up to fight piracy on products and other goods and services.

The two economic blocs recently launched a 5.4-million Euro programme to promote regional maritime security by implementing a comprehensive programme to fight piracy in the Indian Ocean.

According to a statement posted on the Comesa official website, the grant agreement was signed in Lusaka by the Secretary-General of Comesa, Sindiso Ngwenya, and the EU Ambassador to Zambia, Gilles Hervio. 

This is part of the larger programme to promote regional maritime security that has seen the Eastern and Southern Africa regional economic communities benefit from 37.5 million Euros to implement a comprehensive programme to fight piracy in the Indian Ocean.

The development of the programme responds to decisions of the Comesa ministers of foreign affairs, which called on all member states to support the regional initiative against piracy and consider a multi-faceted solution to maritime insecurity, the statement adds.

The larger anti-piracy programme aims at achieving five-result areas shared by four regional organisations. These aims are to ensure an action plan for Somalia; strengthen national and regional legal, legislative and infrastructural capacity for arrest, transfer, detention and prosecution of pirates in the East African Community (EAC); strengthen regional capacity to disrupt the financial network of pirates and their financiers; and minimise the economic impact of piracy under the leadership of Comesa.

The anti-piracy programme further aims to enhance national and regional capacity for maritime tasks and support functions are under the Indian Ocean Community (IOC) as well improve co-ordination and information exchange.

Comesa will also focus on supporting member states to enhance their capacity to analyse, detect and track financial flows linked to piracy by setting up and strengthening financial intelligence units. 

It will further assist the development and/or strengthening of common co-ordinated and inter-agency frameworks on anti-money laundering and also ensure that anti-money laundering laws and regulations are drafted or amended. 

This can be achieved through close collaboration with the international police agency, Interpol and ensure that local law enforcement agencies strengthen their capacity to investigate and prosecute financial crimes at national and international levels.

Comesa’s interest in the programme was mostly motivated by the rising transport, trade and insurance costs, which ultimately affects the regional integration process by undermining development efforts. 

Approximately 90 percent of the Eastern and Southern Africa regional trade by volume is transmitted by maritime transport, it adds. In addition, Comesa member states have suffered directly from piracy including Kenya, Seychelles, Madagascar and Mauritius. 

At the time that the region started to develop the programme in 2010, Seychelles had, for example, recorded a 10-percent decline in tourism revenues and a 30-percent decline in fisheries revenue. Addressing maritime insecurity is expected to significantly lower costs of trade and hence enhance integration to benefit the whole region.

Piracy is recognised as an international problem today and it is widely accepted that it requires comprehensive multilateral solution including the stabilisation of Somalia. 

The European Union has in its part taken a very keen interest in addressing piracy through several other programmes including the EU Common Security and Defence Policy Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) operation ATALANTA, as well as the EU CAP NESTOR mission for regional maritime capacity building.