Maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea

This European project aims to strengthen the capacities of the coastal states of the Gulf of Guinea to prosecute piracy, smuggling and illegal fishing, since more than 80% of these countries' exports are carried out by sea.

The direct work with Cameroon and Ghana will benefit the 19 states that make up the Yaoundé Architecture (a regional consultation mechanism created in 2013 to coordinate the fight against illegal activities in the waters of the Gulf of Guinea).

The project has been approved through an assistance measure under the umbrella of the European Peace Facility. This financial instrument of the European Union was created in 2021 on an extra-budgetary basis and is part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). On that basis, the EU Council allocated this project to FIIAPP (CFSP Decision 2023/2682) in November 2023 and endowed the project with €21 million.

The work plan is structured in two components:

1. Provide an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) system through an airborne asset that will be deployed in the area for around 12 months, compiling images of movements in the Gulf of Guinea. This information will feed the YARIS maritime information system, funded by EU Member States.

2. Improve the material capacities of the maritime security authorities of two key countries in the region: Cameroon and Ghana. To this end, a variety of equipment will be provided, including a patrol boat, diving equipment and outboard engines, among others.