(Ecofin Agency) - West Africa is increasingly becoming a fertile ground for pirates, the International Marine Bureau (IMB) reveals in its 2018 report on maritime piracy.

While 201 hijacking cases had been recorded in the world in 2018 (against 180 in 2017), West Africa had the highest number of attacks that year. The six ships that were hijacked in 2018 were attacked in the maritime zone between Côte d’Ivoire and DR Congo while thirteen out of the eighteen shootings as well as most of the kidnappings for ransom were recorded in that zone.  

Two of the world’s largest oil exporters (Angola and Nigeria) had been the target of many attacks and the IMB indicates that despite the actions initiated to put an end to these attacks, each year, the world economy loses billions of dollars due to maritime piracy.

"There is an urgent need for increased cooperation and sharing of intelligence between the Gulf of Guinea's littoral states so that effective action can be taken against pirates", one of the Bureau’s spokesperson said.  

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou