The exclusive economic zone concept: Contributions of African states to the third United Nations Conference on The Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III)

To African states, the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), first convened in 1973, represented a significant opportunity for their participation in the progressive restructuring of international legal and economic relationships as well as for oceans law. They realized that by expanding the breadth of issues discussed at the conference, they could actively engage in a comprehensive rewriting and codification of international oceans law--a codification process that could ultimately enhance their national interests as a collective bloc.; First vetted by African coastal states, the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is an innovative concept in ocean management. It is a multifunctional resource-oriented regime that reflects the contemporary needs of African coastal states for economic development. It also signifies an attempt to formulate a new jurisdictional regime that would ensure a fair balance between two conflicting forces: those who maintained that the coastal state should have no right over the living resources of the sea, beyond a 12-mile territorial sea; and others who contended that the coastal state should have sovereignty over the sea and its resources up to 200 nautical miles.; The primary purpose of this study is to present a concise study of the EEZ regime as elaborated by developing African states during UNCLOS III. Particular emphasis is given to its evolutionary character, constitutive elements, and current status in international law. The secondary purpose is to examine the process through which the concept entered the realm of customary international law, and the role of African states in that process. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of their contributions and explore the resultant international, political, and legal implications.; To this end, the study focuses on the activities of 31 Sub-Saharan African states that constitute the African Atlantic and Indian Ocean (AAIO) states at UNCLOS III proceedings. Documents such as organizational resolutions, national legislations, published official records, draft texts, official statements, and international agreements were examined in order to evaluate the significance of these governments at the LOS negotiation.