The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) honored an invitation by the ECOWAS Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre (MMCC) Zone F to participate as an observer in the Obangame Express (OE) 2023 exercise at the MMCC Zone F Headquarters in Accra, Ghana from Monday 28 January to Friday 3 February 2023.

The OE is an annual multinational maritime exercise organized by the United States Africa Command aimed at enhancing interoperability and enhancing capabilities of maritime law enforcement agencies to deal with maritime crimes in the Gulf of Guinea. The exercise is conducted annually and brings together navies of Atlantic states who exercise together to deal with common maritime threats.

FCWC’s participation complements other ongoing efforts to grow and strengthen its existing collaborations with other entities in the maritime security and fisheries compliance sectors. Through the FCWC’s participation in the OBANGAME Express 2023 exercise as an observer, FCWC gained full insight on the conduct of the exercise, and the role of the Multinational Maritime Coordination Centres (MMCCs) of ECOWAS, and other partners.

FCWC was able to identify opportunities to provide valuable support to the exercise in the future. A longer term aim is for the FCWC Regional MCS Centre to be identified as an Intel Centre during subsequent OE and other programs.