Maritime security and justice: two areas of expertise in high demand from our partners
The 7th edition of the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa will be held on 6 and 7 December. It is a key event for international leaders and development actors in Africa.
In the field of peace and security, Expertise France, the French international technical cooperation agency, supports countries for crisis prevention and management, the fight against transnational threats and stabilisation. It is also involved in the reform of defence, security and peacekeeping. The agency is accredited by the European Union and implements projects able to combine technical expertise, the provision of equipment and training.
With the current preparation of European programming for the coming years, Expertise France aims to use this field experience to support our partners’ needs. Through an ongoing dialogue with European agencies and partner countries, Expertise France builds unique expertise in issues related to the security-development nexus in both the Sahel and Middle East.
This event will also be an opportunity for Expertise France to promote its increasing number of activities in the field of justice. This is much awaited by our partners, and especially important in the agency as the teams of the former operator, Justice Coopération Internationale, joined Expertise France on 1 January 2021.
Implementation of European projects to contribute to maritime security in Africa
Maritime security by nature involves transboundary issues. They therefore require a coordinated national and regional response. Expertise France fits in with the European Union’s maritime strategy and is an integral part of the European Critical Maritime Routes (CMR) programme. It is implementing several European projects to strengthen national, regional and supra-regional cooperation for the protection of critical infrastructure and maritime security and safety.
The GoGIN project in the Gulf of Guinea and CRIMARIO project in the Indo-Pacific are contributing to strengthening a dialogue and a common maritime culture between countries, allowing them to gain a better understanding of their maritime domain. These two projects have led to the creation of information-sharing platforms. The GOGIN project is in particular working to support the 2013 Yaoundé process.
To address the risk factors facing this critical infrastructure, Expertise France and the European Commission are also working for the security of port facilities in West and Central Africa via the WECAPS project. Its objective is to help the authorities strengthen the security of their ports, taking into account their environment (economic and geopolitical issues, legal framework) and their specific activities.
Judicial cooperation in Africa: operators in the French justice ecosystem mobilised to provide a response tailored to our partners’ needs
In addition to security-related issues, this trip is an opportunity for Expertise France to promote the development of its “Justice” services with a trip by a delegation representing several operators from the French judicial sector. The objective is to discuss ongoing projects and development prospects with our local partners.
“Justice” is rapidly becoming a major theme for the agency, as on 1 January 2021, Expertise France became an operator for the Ministry of Justice following its integration of the ministry’s former operator, Justice Coopération Internationale. Regional technical cooperation projects are already being implemented, such as OCWAR-M on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, which is based in Dakar, and the BEPI Sahel project based in Mauritania, which aims to strengthen judicial cooperation, especially on the fight against terrorism and organised crime.
In the context of the meeting of French development operators, two factors will allow France to further develop the justice component in its cooperation:
- The European Union has just notified Expertise France of the renewal of its accreditation for the management of delegated funds, which was not the case for Justice Coopération Internationale. This should allow it to work on larger-scale projects, particularly in the field of justice where the agency implements most of its projects with EU funds.
- On 1 January 2022, Expertise France will become a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement Group.
This new framework provides an opportunity to scale up activities in the field of justice, a sector which the agency wishes to develop. In this respect, partnership agreements have already been concluded with the following justice partners in order to mobilise their expertise:
• The Conseil Supérieur du Notariat
• The Conseil National des Barreaux
• The Chambre Nationale des Commissaires de Justice
• The Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature
• The Ecole Nationale de l’Administration Pénitentiaire
These partnerships result in activities in the field, as this delegation in a “France Justice Team” format makes it possible to gain an overall understanding of the needs of beneficiaries and mobilise the expertise required to address them. The objective of this trip to Dakar is therefore to hold discussions with the Senegalese authorities on their wishes in terms of cooperation and the initial outcomes of the projects implemented, as well as with French and European donors on their priorities and the way in which Expertise France, the Ministry of Justice and the professions can assist them with their practical implementation.