Samenvatting

This article aims to explain where, when, how and why piratical activity has taken off in Nigeria and Somalia since the 1970s. The geographical and historical conditions of the continent are compared with those of the other main region of piratical activity in the world during recent decades, Southeast Asia. A critical evaluation is then made of the available information concerning the problem and the different possible, local and global, explanations for the recent surge in African piracy, including opportunity, inequality and the proliferation of small and light weapons. The widespread notion that contemporary piracy can be explained with reference to state failure is challenged, and the rise of organized piratical activity, particularly in the Niger Delta and off the Somali coast, is instead understood as a result of the interaction of local social and political dynamics with transnational and global influences.