A law on the suppression of piracy, terrorism, attacks against the security of maritime navigation and platforms was promulgated by Cameroonian President Paul Biya on December 27, 2022.

Piracy is defined and punishable by “life imprisonment and/or a fine of twenty million to two hundred million CFA francs (approximately 30,000 to 300,000 euros).” According to the regulations, anyone who participated in the financing will be punished in the same way. The Cameroonian State has thus followed in the footsteps of Nigeria, which, for its part, promulgated a bill to combat piracy on 24 June 2019.

This law specifically makes it possible to prosecute offenders and criminalize piracy. Nigeria was the first country in the Gulf of Guinea to adopt such a text. This law allowed the Nigerian state to sentence ten people who hijacked a Chinese fishing boat to 12 years in prison.