Introduction
Earlier this year, the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement (BBNJ), better known as the High Seas Treaty, entered into force, opening the door for protecting marine life in international waters. African countries are now pushing forward proposals to establish marine protected areas (MPAs) in the high seas. David Willima, a maritime researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria, South Africa, provides insights into the current state of the treaty’s implementation, its significance for Africa, and the challenges ahead. Willima is part of the ISS’s Climate Risk and Human Security Project and has been involved in capacity building around the High Seas Treaty since 2022, supporting the IUCN in the Western Indian Ocean region.
The High Seas Treaty and Africa’s Marine Protected Areas
West Africa, through ECOWAS, is far advanced with an MPA proposal in the Canary and Guinea Currents Convergence Zone. According to Willima, stakeholders are moving towards a designated area because ECOWAS countries have the right institutions and are well-coordinated on maritime security and ocean governance.
East Africa’s Complex Geometry
On the East African side, progress is more complicated due to the region’s geometry. Unlike Pacific Island states with large, uninterrupted EEZs, Africa has a mosaic of overlapping EEZs, continental shelf claims, island states, and coastal states. For example, Namibia and South Africa have extended continental shelf applications that affect potential MPA boundaries. While the BBNJ agreement (Article 5) prioritizes existing regional agreements and RFMOs, real concerns remain before those countries can advance.
Ecological Significance of Saya de Malha
The Saya de Malha area off East Africa is ecologically, economically, and culturally significant. It features continuous high seas seagrass beds, making it an important carbon sink and crucial habitat for marine megafauna. However, because few people know it exists, it is essentially unprotected and heavily plundered, mostly for tuna. Mauritius and Seychelles share joint jurisdiction over the seabed and subsoil resources, but the overlying water column remains international waters, creating an enforcement gap for fisheries and shipping regulations.
Challenges: IUU Fishing and Deep-Sea Mining
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a major challenge. Africa loses conservatively a year to it, and that figure is probably much higher now. Willima notes that because high seas areas are closely connected to African coastal waters, distant-water fishing fleets easily move between them. African states largely lack the capacity to patrol their own EEZs, let alone the high seas. Experts in the Gulf of Guinea worry that high seas MPAs might push distant-water fleets further into coastal waters. Willima emphasizes that the High Seas Treaty must be accompanied by investment in surveillance capacity, data sharing, and enforcement, and must work simultaneously with other agreements.
Deep-Sea Mining and Geopolitical Tensions
Deep-sea mining is interconnected with ocean governance. Many targeted minerals (copper, cobalt, nickel) are the same that African terrestrial mining countries depend on. If deep-sea mining floods the market, prices fall and African economies suffer. Royalties from sponsorship are not worth the liability risks. There is tension with BBNJ, which is pro-conservation, while deep-sea mining is destructive. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) mining code is still being finalized, with industry rushing before adequate safeguards. The U.S. is pushing to mine unilaterally and has been mapping areas in a covert way, turning it into a geopolitical contest. Willima stresses that Africa must engage across BBNJ, fisheries subsidies, and the ISA simultaneously.
Looking Ahead: COP and African Leadership
The first BBNJ Conference of the Parties (COP) is scheduled for January 2027 at the United Nations headquarters. Africa is currently sitting at, with others that have completed domestic processes but haven’t submitted instruments yet, and around 36 signatures. Willima’s bigger concern is what story Africa will bring to COP—whether it will defer to Western scientific standards or bring its own, including Indigenous knowledge systems. There are positive developments: Malawi became the 41st country (and only African landlocked country) to support a precautionary pause on deep-sea mining, citing the ocean’s role in climate regulation and experience from Cyclone Freddy. Kenya and Madagascar followed, now totaling 43 countries globally. In maritime security, some Gulf of Guinea countries have pooled resources to create a combined maritime task force to fight IUU fishing. New satellite tools for monitoring are making a difference. Willima concludes that Africa is in a better position than ever to hold leaders accountable and push ocean governance forward.