22/01/2025
The project is funded by the European Peace Facility and aims to strengthen the capacity of coastal states in the Gulf of Guinea
The project aims to strengthen the capacities of the coastal states of the Gulf of Guinea to conduct counter-piracy and maritime security operations and deterrence activities in the Gulf of Guinea by strengthening the capacities of the Yaoundé Architecture and its member states, with the ultimate goal of reducing the incidence of crime and protecting vessels and maritime resources, and coastal populations and their livelihoods.
Improve the maritime situational awareness and capabilities of the Cameroonian and Ghanaian navies to patrol the high seas and strengthen maritime security to reduce the incidence of crime, protecting ships, coastal populations and their livelihoods. This is the objective of the project funded by the European Union and implemented by FIIAPP.
Working directly 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 €21 million, 36-month 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 implementation phase will run until August 2027.
The work plan is structured in two components:
-Provide an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) system through an airborne asset that will be deployed in the area for a period of 12 months during which it will gather intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance information in the Gulf of Guinea. This information will feed the YARIS maritime information system, funded by EU member states and shared with other regional centres and maritime coordination centres of the Yaoundé Architecture.
-Improve the patrolling capabilities of the navies of two key countries in the region: Cameroon and Ghana. To this end, a variety of equipment will be procured, including an intervention vessel, diving equipment and outboard engines, among others.
