Luanda - The commander of the Angolan Navy (MGA), Valentim António, defended on Friday, in Luanda, the need for greater proactivity by countries to counter maritime threats, in a complex and rapidly changing world.
When speaking at the opening of the Obangame Express 2024 exercise, the official said that “today no country, in isolation, is capable of responding to maritime insecurities”.
According to the commander, this cooperation must be developed both in the field of regional and global internal training, taking into account that the seas play an important role for nations.
Valentim António said that “the sea is a unifying element, it does not separate, but unites people, possessing riches such as hydrocarbons, fishery resources, minerals, as well as serving as a great means of communication”.
Accordingly, he continued, they must receive great attention and mandatory monitoring for everyone's safety.
He stressed that, as in the past, man will continue to explore these resources, but it is necessary and recommended that this be done in a conscious and sustainable way and not irrational, as it happens, endangering and compromising human existence.
Valentim António said that many threats emerge from the sea, such as maritime piracy, ship robbery, smuggling and various trafficking, criminal marine pollution, some of which act very openly against the movement of ships.
He said that other (threats) are classified as disguised and difficult to stop, causing great damage to States and their populations.
Therefore, he continued, these situations lead us to understand the need for more overt surveillance actions in order to protect wealth and prevent the free movement of ships from being compromised.
Accordingly, he said, “navies must be ready, as required by diplomas from the United Nations, the African Union and regional organizations”.
Obangame Express is an exercise carried out annually within the scope of the Code of Conduct of Yaoundé, Cameroon, which deals with maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, which is home to 17 countries and is subdivided into five zones, namely A, D, E, F and G.
Zone A is coordinated by Angola and includes five other countries, namely Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic (CAR), Rwanda and Burundi. The last three were included recently, during the last meeting of the heads of state of the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC), in Kinshasa, DRC. MGM/SC/DOJ
