Navies in the ECOWAS region have been urged to remain vigilant despite the decline in piracy threats, for example.
While there has been a decline in threats such as piracy in recent years, the navies in the region need to remain on their guard to ward off further threats in the future.
The Director of the ECOWAS Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre (MMCC) Zone F, Captain Daniel Gnamien Ehu, made the call at the launch of the eighth edition of the Grand African NEMO 2025 (GANO), an annual maritime security training involving navies across the Gulf of Guinea and its partners.
Capt. Ehu reaffirmed the centre’s commitment to continue and strengthen the security of the maritime space.
“Let us work together to create a safer, more secure, and more prosperous maritime environment, particularly in Zone F and, more broadly, across the Gulf of Guinea. I am confident that this exercise will be a success,” he said.
Training
The training, organised by the Yaoundé Architecture for Maritime Security (YAMS), a maritime security initiative in collaboration with the French navy, aims to reinforce the various components of the interregional cooperation architecture established at the Yaoundé Summit on Maritime Security.
The week-long programme is designed to address the maritime security issues facing the region, including the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; the fight against piracy; marine pollution control; the fight against human and drug trafficking, as well as search and rescue operations at sea.
The exercise will see no fewer than 25 nations partake in the eighth edition, including all the coastal navies of the Gulf of Guinea, as well as partner navies such as France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Morocco, Denmark and Mauritania.
The training, which stretches from Senegal to Angola, would involve 55 surface units, frigates, patrol vessels, fast boats, 11 aircraft and helicopters from the participating nations.
Collaboration
The Chief of Navy Staff, Rear Admiral Godwin Livinus Bessing, in a statement delivered on his behalf by the Deputy Chief Staff Officer in Charge of Operations and Training, Commodore
Stephen Billins Nyam, as the Guest of Honour, said the Ghanaian Navy was proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with its regional and international partners in the fight against insecurity in the maritime region.
He said the focus on combating illicit trafficking, piracy, illegal migration, and maritime pollution was both timely and critical.
Rear Admiral Bessing said the Gulf of Guinea remained a strategic maritim#e corridor, vital not only to the economies of West and Central Africa but also to global trade and commerce.
He added that no single nation could secure the blue oceans and seas alone; hence, the need for mutual trust, interoperability, and a shared responsibility.
Through the exercise, he said, GANO would enhance the capacity, sharpen skills, test the resolve and operational procedures, and build confidence in their partners’ capabilities.
Mutual Commitment
The new French Ambassador, Diarra Dimé Labille, said the exercise was a solid demonstration of mutual commitment to maritime security and mutual cooperation.
She said since its inception, the exercise has strengthened the capacity of the navies and agencies of the nations of the Gulf of Guinea, from Mauritania to Angola.
Ms Labille also commended the dedication of the European Union delegation, alongside its member states, including Spain, Denmark, Portugal, Belgium, and the US, to strengthening maritime capability, as demonstrated by the initiatives undertaken by the European Peace Facility.
