Off the coast of West Africa, where the Canary Current meets warmer waters from the Gulf of Guinea, a new kind of ocean sanctuary may soon take shape. West African countries are leading Africa into a new era of ocean protection, moving faster than any other region on the continent to create a marine protected area in international waters — the open ocean beyond any country's borders.
Earlier this year, a landmark agreement called the High Seas Treaty came into force. The treaty, officially known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, creates rules for protecting marine life in the open ocean, which covers nearly half of Earth's surface. Now, countries around the world are rushing to propose their first ocean sanctuaries under these new rules. And in West Africa, the work is already well underway.
David Willima, a maritime researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, South Africa, has been watching this progress closely. Since 2022, he has helped African governments understand and prepare for the new treaty. "West Africa, and ECOWAS is very far advanced, and from what I understand, stakeholders across those countries are moving towards a designated area," Willima said in a recent interview. ECOWAS refers to the Economic Community of West African States, a group of 15 West African countries that have been working together on ocean issues.
The proposed sanctuary sits in the Canary and Guinea Currents Convergence Zone — a rich stretch of ocean where two powerful currents meet, creating a feeding ground for fish, sea turtles, and countless other species. Willima says West African countries have the right institutions in place and coordinate well on everything from maritime security to broader ocean governance. That coordination has put them ahead of other African regions.
In East Africa, planners face more complex geography. Coastal countries there have overlapping claims to ocean areas and nearby island nations, making it harder to draw boundaries for a protected zone. Still, proposals exist for a sanctuary near the Saya de Malha bank, one of the world's largest shallow areas in the Indian Ocean.
The stakes are high. Africa loses more than $10 billion every year to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing — fishing that breaks rules or ignores them entirely. Much of this happens because many African countries lack ships and aircraft to patrol even their own coastal waters. Willima argues that Africa's voice matters more than ever as the world writes new rules for ocean protection. "African countries need to be actively engaged in order to have a voice in global decision-making," he said.
The High Seas Treaty gives Africa a real chance to protect the waters that matter most to its people — not just for wildlife, but for the fishermen, coastal communities, and future industries that depend on healthy oceans.