Securing the Gulf of Guinea

By Sunny Lawrence-Oputa

America’s foreign policy, according to observers of global affairs, is aligned with America’s interest. What could be the interest behind the United States proposal to station AFRICOM in the Gulf of Guinea nations? The simple answer is to protect America’s energy interest. America understands that there will be no United States energy security without a global energy security. No nation is an island in the energy market.

The Gulf of Guinea, which encompasses most of the sub-Saharan Africa nations, has become a desirable destination for oil and gas exploration and production. About 18 percent of the U.S. crude oil supply comes from the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria, Angola and Equatorial Guinea were among the top ten suppliers of crude oil to U.S. As the world’s energy demand continues to grow , it is expected that United State which has began to wean itself from much dependency on the supply of oil from the Middle East will hang on tenaciously to the Gulf of Guinea to meet up her demand for crude oil. The Gulf of Guinea region has lot of prospects for the discovery of more fields and the current fields are yielding well.

The Gulf of Guinea is not only of strategic importance to the U.S but to the entire world energy market. The region is underdeveloped and rife with political and social volatility. Therefore, it is apparent why the United States wants to safeguard her interest in the sub-Saharan Africa and also assist those nations in improving quality of life for her citizens. Due to the importance of the supply that comes from this region, America can’t afford to see an attack on her immense investment in the Gulf of Guinea or anything that would hamper supply to the United States such as attack by Al-Qaeda, disturbances by local militia groups, bunkering, piracy and other criminal activities that might affect supply to the United States.

Despite the big resources available in the Gulf of Guinea region both onshore and offshore there’s a clear lack of maritime security to safeguard operations. Nigeria is the only nation in the sub-region that can boast of a strong military and naval security. Yet, the region’s biggest economy has a limited role to play.

In a November 2006 conference in Benin to enhance collaboration between U.S. and the nations of Gulf of Guinea, Frazer, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said that “the lack of Maritime safety and security in the Gulf of Guinea has had a negative impact on stability, human security, and economic development in the region.” Frazer enumerated further that “Achieving coastal security in the Gulf of Guinea is key to America’s trade and investment opportunities in Africa, to our energy security and to stem transnational threats like narcotics and arms trafficking, piracy, and illegal fishing.”

In spite of America’s strong presence in providing maritime security, training and aids in some of the nations of Gulf of Guinea such as Sao Tome & Principe, Ghana, Gabon and Benin, many of the West African nations still display public resentment towards the establishment of AFRICOM or any type of American naval presence in their countries.

Nigeria is one of the countries vehemently opposed to the establishment of AFRICOM in their country. It could be an issue of protecting sovereignty or not knowing what would be the implication of an established presence of America to their national survival