Safeseas directors Timothy Edmunds and Christian Bueger attended the Global Maritime Security Conference in Abuja, Nigeria, on the 7th to 9th of October 2019. The high-level conference brought together 2300 delegates from 76 countries, and was organised by the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Nigeria, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and the Nigerian Navy.
Christian Bueger spoke on the first day, leading the discussion for the thematic session ‘Balancing Geopolitical, Economic and Geostrategic Interests in Maritime Security Initiatives’. Recognising the complexity of attaining maritime security due to issues of sovereignty, the discussion focused on the importance of balancing the geostrategic interests of international actors with those in the Gulf of Guinea in order to identify areas where interests could dovetail.
Timothy Edmunds was the lead speaker on the ‘Future of Maritime Security: Trends, Emerging Threat Vectors and Capability Requirements’. A summary of his talking points can be found on the Safeseas website, and focused primarily on comprehensive approaches to capacity-building to achieve stability at sea.
Other panels focused on areas such as the Blue Economy, regional cooperation, the role of civil society, and enhancing Maritime Domain Awareness.