Lomé, Togo, November 21, 2019- The President of Togo Faure Gnassingbe awarded earlier this week in Lomé an interview with Bloomberg Television, the US media specializing in economics and finance.
Questions of national, regional and continental levels have been addressed during the interview, including economic reforms undertaken by Togo and its development ambitions, the fight against terrorism in the West African sub-region and the question piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
On the last point, 1 Togolese lamented the lack of coordination at the state level, despite the signing by 15 countries, 6 years ago, a fight against maritime piracy charter. A situation that favors precisely the persistence of pirate attacks.
There is a fortnight, a ship was the target, in the territorial waters of Togo, an attack by suspected pirates, the latest in a series of attacks in recent months. “Individual countries are doing what needs to be done,” said the Head of State. He continued: “Where we’re a little weak is how to cooperate. We must cooperate and take action. ”
Faure Gnassingbe has once again called for a more concerted approach and a coordinated response in order to overcome this danger that undermined puts maritime traffic in the region. According to data from the International Maritime Bureau times by the US television network, the Gulf of Guinea alone represents nearly 82% of crew abductions in the world.
Togo has been for many years the forefront of the fight against maritime insecurity. In October 2016, an unprecedented summit on maritime security and development in Africa, had met in Lome leaders of the continent.
A maritime prefecture has also been created for better coordination of interventions of the Navy off the coast of Togo.
Finally, note that in April 2017 the President of the Republic had been placed by the African Union at the forefront, and entrusted the leadership of the fight against maritime piracy.
African Eye Report
