5. Growing Together

This chapter concentrates on the current state of maritime security in East and West Africa. Several examples for efforts to improve security at sea through better cooperation on the regional level are provided, highlighting the shortcomings that have to be addressed in the coming years. It also stresses the lack of available data about even the most basic issues which further complicates the response to security challenges at sea. Cooperation efforts across both regions covered in this book are also outlined. These are often not directly concerned with maritime security issues, yet provide a broader context of regional integration in both East and West Africa. Documents like the Djibouti Code of Conduct or the Yaoundé Code of Conduct can only be implemented in frameworks provided by existing organisations, particularly the Regional Economic Communities endorsed by the African Union. Moreover, the involvement and interests of actors from outside East or West Africa have to be considered for a realistic analysis.