Dar es Salaam. Robert Scott, U.S. Africa Command Deputy for Civil-Military Engagement, visited Tanzania between January 21 and 25, 2024, for bilateral meetings with the East African nation’s leadership and to participate in a conference on maritime security.
A statement released Wednesday said that Scott presented the opening remarks for the ‘Maritime Safety and Security: Shared Challenges and responses in the Indian Ocean’ seminar hosted by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), a U.S. Department of Defense institution.
The four-day seminar hosted about 45 participants from 15 African, South Asian and Pacific Indian Ocean states, along with international and regional organisations to dicsuss the security challenges affecting the region, including illegal, unregulated, unreported fishing.
The seminar also provided a platform to discuss the maritime security architecture in the region and catalyse next steps towards practical maritime security cooperation among the participating countries.
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“Maritime threats such as [illegal, unregulated, unreported] IUU fishing, piracy, and trafficking cross international borders and addressing those threats requires a collaborative approach,” Scott said.
“Many of the countries participating in this seminar share borders and coastlines, and this provides the opportunity to foster the partnerships and approaches to work together to counter these threats.”
Spanning four days, the seminar comprised of both plenary sessions that draw
on strategic, policy, academic, and operational expertise, and discussion sessions where
participants are encouraged to share freely on the topics that arise.
While in Tanzania, Mr Scott also met with Dr Stergomena Tax, Tanzanian Minister of Defence and National Service; and Alexander Mnyeti, Tanzanian Deputy Minister of Livestock and Fisheries.
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“Tanzania has been a longstanding partner to the U.S., and I had a very good meeting with Minister Tax to discuss security challenges and areas of collaboration,” Scott said.
“I was also grateful for the meeting with Deputy Minister Mnyeti, and we talked about the maritime security challenges faced in the region, and how we could support Tanzania in addressing those.”
The ambassador traveled back to Stuttgart, Germany on January 25, 2024.
U.S. Africa Command is one of seven U.S. Department of Defense geographic combatant commands, and is responsible for all U.S. military operations, exercises, security cooperation, and crisis response on the African continent in support of U.S. interests and to promote regional security, stability, and prosperity.
Scott’s visit highlights U.S. Africa Command’s 3D approach, which leverages diplomacy, development, and defense collaboration, a statement released Wednesday said.
