The trends in African piracy are changing. Western Africa's Gulf of Guinea and eastern Africa's Gulf of Aden remain the continent's major areas of pirate operation, but since 2012 attacks have become more common in the west than in the east. This is explained partly by foreign interdiction efforts, which have led to a marked decrease in pirate activity in the Gulf of Aden, and partly by a slow rise in pirate activity in the Gulf of Guinea.
The differences between West African and East African piracy also contribute to this new dynamic. East African piracy is highly structured. Pirates are hired and financed by outsides parties, who usually do not participate directly in attacks. Rather, they assemble the pirate crews, provide supplies and equipment, financially support crew members and provide maintenance of hijacked vessels and hostages. They also hire informants in a variety of capacities to select viable targets, which tend to be ships traversing the area.
West African pirates engage in hijacking for ransom, but they more often target ships to hijack cargo, such as petroleum products. They also kidnap crews and sell them to human trafficking networks. This enables them to operate more autonomously and more cheaply than their more organized and structured eastern counterparts. It also enables them to work more quickly, avoiding long negotiations that tie up resources. In short, the tactics used to combat East African piracy are less effective against West African piracy. Coupled with a dearth of foreign military resources in the Gulf of Guinea, West African piracy has risen slowly as East African piracy has declined.
