Marruecos, Francia y Senegal amplían su cooperación militar mediante ejercicios navales
Morocco, France and Senegal have carried out joint military exercises to combat illegal trafficking and insecurity generated by criminal gangs in the Gulf of Guinea, according to the French Embassy in the Alawi kingdom.
The three nations deployed naval military exercises, together with other countries, demonstrating the high level of military collaboration developed mutually, and, above all, between France and the North African nation.
Thus, the French Navy and the Yaoundé Architecture (a regional cooperation organisation between the countries of the Gulf of Guinea to combat insecurity in the waters of the area), carried out the Grand African NEMO (GANo) manoeuvres, an exercise that takes place once a year and brings together 17 of the 19 states bordering the Gulf of Guinea, as well as eight partner states, including France and Morocco.
"Joint deployment of military vessels to better combat trafficking and insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea. New sign of the important military cooperation between France and Morocco and of their common commitment at the regional level," the French Embassy in Morocco said on its Twitter social network account.
Morocco deployed a surveillance frigate, while the Senegalese patrol boat Kédougou and the French navy's PHA Tonnerre, a type of amphibious helicopter carrier, also took part in the exercise, as reported by L'Economiste. Various frigates, patrol boats, speedboats, aircraft and helicopters from the nations involved took part throughout the exercise.
The exercise, now in its fourth year, took place over a large maritime area stretching from Senegal to Angola, the French Defence Ministry said in an official statement. For this fourth edition, the participating countries were Morocco, Angola, Benin, Brazil, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Italy, Liberia, Nigeria, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, Togo, United Kingdom and the United States.
During this exercise, the navies of these nations participated in maritime security scenarios aimed at "combating illegal fishing, piracy, maritime pollution, illegal trafficking and maritime rescue", as indicated in the official communiqué.
Grand African NEMO 2022 has made it possible to strengthen collaboration between the various participating navies by carrying out numerous exercises that reproduce operational conditions close to reality and respond to local problems.
According to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, these annual exercises alternate between different areas of the Gulf of Guinea, but always with the same objective: "To contribute to strengthening the expertise of the navies of the coastal states and to act together within the framework of state action in the maritime area".
Coopération navale entre ??????. Déploiement conjoint de bâtiments militaires pour mieux lutter contre les trafics et l’insécurité dans le Golfe de Guinée. Nouvelle illustration de la coopération militaire significative entre???? et de leur engagement commun sur le plan régional. pic.twitter.com/A3OLZRKxWD
— La France au Maroc ???? (@AmbaFranceMaroc) October 17, 2022
After the end of these exercises, the chiefs of staff of the navies bordering the Gulf of Guinea will meet in Paris on 20 October for a symposium on three topics: operational training, maritime information exchange and environmental security.
The Gulf of Guinea is a conflict zone due to the prevailing insecurity, despite the fact that conflict declined in 2021. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), the Gulf of Guinea recorded 34 incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery in 2021, compared to 81 in 2020. The rate of kidnappings at sea during the period also fell by 55% in 2021, as reported by Anadolu Agency.
