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By CHARLES ONYANGO-OBBO
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The Indian Ocean waters off the East African coast today host the most diverse collection of world navies ever seen. The Americans are there, so are the European Union, India, China, Greece, the Brits, name it.
They have gathered for an urgent purpose — to combat Somali piracy that could close the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean lanes to international shipping.
Ships that avoid the Somali pirates and go round the Cape of Good Hope, are adding 10 days to the delivery dates for their cargo. And insurance rates for ships that still use the Gulf of Aden passage have gone through the roof.
So many navies wouldn’t assemble off the East African coast just to prevent Somali pirates pocketing ransoms from shippers. And, on the Somali side, the country has been in chaos for over 10 years. Why is it that it is only in the past two years that its pirates have become so active?
The reality is that the powerful nations are sending navies to the Indian Ocean because its lanes hold the key to the future.
In two years, China will surpass the US as Africa’s largest trading partner. In less than 10 years, Africa is likely to be the leading supplier of energy to several countries in Europe, Asia, and possibly the US.
Even if China and India stumble and neither of them becomes the next global economic superpower, they will almost certainly be by far the world’s leading consumers of energy in a few years.
The global economy, therefore, will be dependent on the safety of the Indian Ocean lanes.
All the world’s major economies therefore have an interest in having a say on the Indian Ocean routes.
The countries that play a role in securing the ocean, will share in the kind of power that the US has enjoyed from controlling the most critical assets for the function of the Internet globally.
The flip side is that the Somali pirates might be criminals, but we have to give them credit for recognising a rich opportunity when they see one.
In all the uproar about piracy, the world has forgotten that the Somali pirates are also environmental heroes.
Some years ago, The EastAfrican had an insightful article about illegal fishing off the Somali coast.
The world’s leading fishing interests, led by the Japanese, took advantage of the fact that Somalia was a failed state to plunder its waters.
There was so much illegal fishing, reports said that at night the lights of the trawlers in the waters off the coast of Bossaso looked like a “floating city.”
To compound matters, rogue companies also allegedly also took advantage to dump toxic waste in Somalia’s waters. With so much activity off their coast, the Somalis took notice, and put out to the ocean, some to stop the abuses, others to get a piece of the action.
Today, as a result of piracy, sources say the trawlers and toxic waste dumpers have disappeared — and Somalia’s waters have come back to life.
With the growing interest in the Indian Ocean, it is unlikely that force will be the only way to deal with the Somali pirates.
I expect that someone will see that it is cheaper to buy the pirates off.
Also, with the pirates increasing the cost of business for recession-ravaged global companies, the international community may finally get energised to help Somalia put its house in order, something it fails to do when helpless Somalis were being slaughtered and starved by warlords.
In the end, the Somali pirates could not only go down in history as accidental ecowarriors, but ultimately as the saviours of their country too.
Charles Onyango-Obbo is Nation Media Group’s managing editor for convergence and new products. E-mail: [email protected]