The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) participated in the Final Planning Conference (FPC) from 13 to 15 October 2025, in Accra, Ghana, for the Grand African NEMO (GANO) Exercise, a French-sponsored multinational maritime security drill, directed by the French Maritime Prefect and Commander of the Atlantic (CECLANT). The three-day conference was held to finalise plans for the Grand African NEMO (GANO) 2025 scheduled for 10 to 17 November 2025.
The conference convened representatives from the ECOWAS Interregional Coordination Centre (ICC), the ECOWAS Regional Centres for Maritime Security (CRESMs), the Multinational Maritime Coordination Centres (MMCCs), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), regional fisheries bodies, delegations from the navies, coast guards, maritime adminstrations and State Action at Sea organizations from countries bordering the Gulf of Guinea, to confirm the readiness of all participants for the upcoming exercise.
The GANO exercise will also see participation from strategic naval partners, including the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, and Brazil, key African partners Morocco and Mauritania, and the European Union (through key EU programmes such as SEACOP) to build trust and interoperability to operationally tackle maritime insecurity threats.
Given that a significant focus of the planning was on combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, the FCWC played an integral role in this FPC by assisting in developing specialised IUU fishing scenarios, underscoring the critical integration of fisheries protection into comprehensive maritime security efforts. Deliberations centred on aligning operational plans with developed scenarios and finalising logistical requirements to ensure the smooth and effective execution of Ex GANo 2025.
The wide array of international military and civil partners highlighted the global commitment to securing the Gulf of Guinea's waters, and marked a pivotal stage in preparing for the eighth edition of this annual event, uniting the core pillars of the Yaoundé Architecture for Maritime Safety and Security.
