Onshore security improvement will have positive impact on maritime investment – UNDP

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC) has hinted of plans to start a one-year training programme for some selected West African Countries to boost onshore security on the Gulf of Guinea.

This according to the UNDP is expected to bring some investments into the West African maritime region with decreased cases of crime in the sub-regions’ onshore trading.

The Head of Conflict Management Programme, Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at KAIPTC, John Mark Pokoo has explained that the programme will boost security on the corridors of the sub-region, thereby attracting lower risk of insurance which will go a long way to help shipping lines.

“The issue of security in our waters is very important to the cost of living because you know many of the things we consume are being imported and when the maritime corridor is not safe, it will influence the cost of things we import which will affect the cost of living,” he said.

According to the United Nations Development Programme, the Gulf of Guinea is a major trade route for the export and import of food items, humanitarian assistance and manufactured goods.

The Resident Representative for the UNDP in Ghana, Dr. Angela Lusigi in an interview with Joy Business closely monitored by Ghanaweb said, combating maritime crime is part of a development agenda due to its impact on investment across the world.

“We approach maritime concerns as a developmental issue because of its importance to not only coastal communities but the country as a whole” she noted.

However, the training is part of a series of contributions by both the UNDP and the KAIPTC to control crime such as piracy, oil bunkering, illegal fishing among others on maritime operations and thereby reducing the cost of doing business on the Gulf of Guinea which has negatively affected the economy in that aspect.