South Africa must strengthen regional buy-in for the Indian Ocean Rim Association (Iora), according to Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Peace Operations and Peacebuilding researcher, Timothy Walker.
Maritime safety and security is a key area for Iora which believes that a safe, secure Indian Ocean is vital in order to bolster the movement of goods and people amongst member States.
Walker noted that regional buy-in would help overcome challenges of skills shortages and lack of capacity that had obstructed the implementation of many African maritime policies – while enhancing the implementation of African maritime strategies.
He said Iora’s priority areas perfectly aligned with SA’s priorities for developing an ocean economy under Operation Phakisa and could therefore facilitate investment and the development of Africa’s budding ocean economies along the Western Indian Ocean Seaboard.
“Now is the perfect time to better promote African issues and interests in maritime security, development and governance,” said Walker. “The country can leverage its role as Iora chair to find ways of linking enhanced Indian Ocean cooperation to the implementation of African maritime strategies, codes and charters.”
He pointed out that SA needed to establish mechanisms for resolving disputes arising from clashing interests, manage the interests of Iora’s partners from outside the region (UK, France) and popularise the Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s (Dirco) Iora foreign policy implementation strategy.
Dirco’s Iora strategy has already been developed but has been kept confidential, Walker emphasised that popularisation of its strategy would increase public interest in the importance of chairing Iora and would demonstrate its credentials as a leading African maritime state.
