Elements for the EU’s strategic response to the challenges in the Gulf of Guinea

States bordering the Gulf of Guinea coastline face many of the challenges familiar to countries throughout Africa. But the recent growth in threats emanating from the lack of control over the coastal waters and the weak control over access and security along the coast itself pose a particular challenge to the states of the region.

The threats take various forms, are often interlinked across borders and can, collectively, lead to contagious criminal activity, putting at risk the stability or effectiveness of these states, reducing their chances of successful economic development or of reducing poverty, to which the EU is committed. Unchecked, these threats will grow to the extent that both local and international interests will be damaged.

This Joint Communication reviews the overall scale of the threat, the risks that it poses to the coastal states and the EU, and the potential actions that the EU with the international community can take to help those states tackle the problem.