ABSTRACT Traditionally the African concept of security concept has been dominated by land-based conflicts with little attention being paid to maritime threats and the protection of the maritime environment. With the rapid escalation of piracy on the East Coast, the African Union (AU) was compelled to develop a joint strategy to address its changing African Maritime Domain (AMD). This was achieved by the AU’s Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS 2050) in 2014, culminating in the adoption of a binding maritime security and safety charter in Lomé in 2016. The Lomé Charter should ideally focus the general provisions of AIMS 2050 so that Africa, as a continent, can take responsibility for security and economic empowerment of the AMD. This article considers various maritime security documents against the backdrop of an African context for understanding maritime security, in order to evaluate whether the Lomé Charter, as a manifestation of AIMS 2050, will realise its aspirations. Focussing on security is not sufficient and too much emphasis is placed in the Lomé Charter on restriction rather than development. Strong political will and leadership is required to facilitate implementation, identifying common security concerns to ensure better cooperative and collective strategies in a diverse implementation environment.

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非洲海上安全和洛美宪章：现实还是梦想？

摘要 非洲的安全概念传统上以陆上冲突为主，很少关注海上威胁和海洋环境保护。随着东海岸海盗活动的迅速升级，非洲联盟 (AU) 被迫制定联合战略来应对其不断变化的非洲海洋领域 (AMD)。这是由 2014 年非盟的非洲综合海事战略 (AIMS 2050) 实现的，最终于 2016 年在洛美通过了具有约束力的海上安保和安全宪章。作为一个大陆，可以为 AMD 的安全和经济赋权负责。本文以非洲背景为背景，考察各种海上安全文件，以了解海上安全，以评估作为 AIMS 2050 体现的《洛美宪章》能否实现其愿望。只关注安全是不够的，《洛美宪章》过于强调限制而不是发展。需要强大的政治意愿和领导才能促进实施，确定共同的安全问题，以确保在多样化的实施环境中更好地合作和集体战略。