United Nations – Nippon Foundation Fellowship Alumni

[Abbas] Upcoming conference on maritime security and piracy in Dar es Salaam Tanzania, 18-20 September 2013.

[Abbas Daher Djama ] When the IMO decided to organize a sub-regional meeting on the issue of piracy off the coast of Somalia in Djibouti in 2009, that was rather ambitious in scope, this was meant to be the beginning of a new era of cooperation between the countries in the region, comparable with the South Asian countries back in the early 2000s.

The convention adopted the well-known Djibouti Code of Conduct (CoC), which provides for numerous provisions, such as, inter alia, the judicial cooperation between signatory states. Based on the RECAAP success, the Djibouti CoC calls for the creation of a training center where professionals and government officials will reinforce their capacities on issues related to the fight against piracy including international law, port security, information exchange etc.

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The long dormant border dispute between Malawi and Tanzania has been reignited in recent months by the issuing of a licence by the Malawi government to UK company Surestream to explore for oil in the north-eastern part of Lake Nyasa. Malawi is hoping to find oil reserves of similar magnitude to those currently being exploited in Lake Albert (Uganda), estimated at 2.5 billion barrels.

Malawi claims the whole of the surface of the lake that is not in Mozambique, and their claim is supported by the Anglo-German Heligoland Agreement of 1 July 1890 which defines the border as run­ning along the Tanzanian shore. When the British colonial government captured Tanganyika from Germany, it placed all of the water under the jurisdiction of the terri­tory of Nyasaland, without a separate administration for the Tanganyikan portion of the surface.

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Landlocked South Sudan has signed an important oil pipeline deal with Ethiopia and Djibouti in a bid to reduce its dependence on Sudan – amid a deepening oil crisis.

This agreement provides the construction and exploitation of southern oil pipeline- which makes up 98% of its budget – via its southern neighbour.

A memorandum of understanding     was signed during talks in the   Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa in February, South Sudan’s Minister        for Information Barnaba Marial Benjamin told the AFP news agency.

Chinese, US and European companies have shown interest in carrying out feasibility studies, Mr Benjamin said.

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Islamist militants in Somalia say they have withdrawn from their southern stronghold of Kismayo, following an African Union (AU) military attack.

Kenyan and Somali forces launched a beach assault on al-Shabab’s last major bastion on Friday but encountered fierce resistance.

Al-Shabab commander Sheikh Mohamed Abu-Fatma confirmed the withdrawal orders to AFP: “We got orders from our superiors to withdraw from the city… this is part of broader military tactics we have set for the enemy.”

This victory is very important because Kismayo is the Somalia’s second largest port and represents a significant source of revenue for whoever controls it. The Kismayo port has been used by the Al-Shabaab group to get amnunition and weapons and is also one of the main pirates stronghold.

The loss of Kismayo is a serious blow to the islamist and to the somali pirates, the former lost an important source of revenue and the latter an on-shore base from where they would launch theirs  attacks.

After two decades of anarchy, there are some hopes  in Somalia . For the first time since the overthrown of President Siad Barreh in 1991 the country has elected a new president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. In August 2011,  African Union troops pushed al-Shabab from the capital, Mogadishu, and, along with other pro-government forces, have since taken control of most of the other towns previously in militants hands.

This might be the beginning of a new era for Somalia that has for the past five years come top of the list of the world’s failed states.

Source: BBC news