Why Africa must resolve its maritime boundary disputes

The document examines the challenges and necessity of resolving maritime boundary disputes in Africa, highlighting how these conflicts hinder the 'Blue Economy' and regional security. It discusses the role of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (2050 AIMS), while recommending a preference for bilateral and regional resolution mechanisms over international courts.

• Maritime boundary disputes in Africa are increasingly driven by the desire to explore and exploit natural resources, particularly oil, as technological improvements have made these resources more economically viable.
• Unresolved boundary disputes can destabilise efforts to combat maritime crime and piracy because effective counter-piracy operations require inter-state cooperation, which is undermined when states view each other as threats to sovereignty.
• The 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (2050 AIMS) aims to create a sustainable 'blue economy' and defines the African Maritime Domain broadly to include not only oceans and seas but also internal waters like lakes and rivers, which differs from UNCLOS and customary maritime practice.
• African states often rely on international bodies like the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) due to a lack of trust in the impartiality of regional tribunals.
• Specific maritime and lake boundary disputes are noted between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, Kenya and Somalia, Uganda and Kenya (Lake Victoria), and Malawi and Tanzania (Lake Malawi).
• To resolve disputes, the document recommends that states first exhaust bilateral and regional mechanisms before seeking recourse through the ICJ, and that they ensure claims comply with UNCLOS provisions for territorial, contiguous, and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) waters.
• Alternative approaches to resolve sovereignty dilemmas include the use of Joint Development Zones (JDZ), such as the one between Nigeria and São Tomé and Príncipe, or the Combined Exclusive Maritime Zone of Africa (CEMZA) proposed in 2050 AIMS.

APA

Walker, T. (2015). Why Africa must resolve its maritime boundary disputes. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief80.pdf

Chicago

Walker, Timothy. Why Africa must resolve its maritime boundary disputes. Institute for Security Studies, 2015. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief80.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Walker |first1=Timothy |title=Why Africa must resolve its maritime boundary disputes |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=October 2015 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief80.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{walker2015why, author = {Walker, Timothy}, title = {{Why Africa must resolve its maritime boundary disputes}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2015}, month = oct, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief80.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }