Beginning of the Grand African NEMO 2025 exercise
From November 10 to 17, 2025, the 8th edition of the major exercise Grand African NEMO 2025 (GANo 25), co-organized by the Commander-in-Chief for the Atlantic (CECLANT) and the Yaoundé Maritime Security Architecture, will bring together 19 African navies and seven partner navies, including France.
The exercise will take place across a vast maritime area stretching from Senegal to Angola.
A total of 55 naval units, 11 aircraft, and numerous specialized onshore agencies will participate for one week in a series of exercises designed to address the key security challenges faced by nations in the region.
Since 2018, Grand African NEMO has become the premier annual maritime security event in the Gulf of Guinea. This 8th edition, which brings together an especially large number of military assets at sea, on land, and in the air, aims to share expertise and enhance the operational capabilities of all participants in combating illegal fishing, piracy, maritime pollution, illicit trafficking, and conducting sea rescue operations.
GANo 25 will also receive support from numerous partners, including the European Union—through the EnMar and SEACOP programs in particular—the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the Center for Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution (CEDRE), the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC), the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), the Regional Fisheries Commission of the Gulf of Guinea (COREP), and the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).
Through their leading role in the partnership established by the Yaoundé Protocol of 2013, France, the Yaoundé Architecture, and all their partners continue to play a decisive role in strengthening maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.
From November 10 to 17, follow updates on the Grand African NEMO exercise on social media with the hashtag #GANo25.
The Gulf of Guinea
Stretching over 5,707 kilometers of West African coastline, from Senegal to Angola, the Gulf of Guinea is a major maritime region. Situated at the crossroads of key international shipping routes, it contains significant natural resources—oil, fisheries, and minerals—which make it both a target for illicit activities and a focus of economic interest.
The African NEMO exercises
Since the Yaoundé Summit of 2013, the Commander-in-Chief for the Atlantic (CECLANT), as part of Mission Corymbe and in close coordination with the Yaoundé Architecture and its partners, has conducted numerous operational cooperation activities as well as the major annual exercise Grand African NEMO, which brings together a large number of naval units and operational centers.
These recurring exercises rotate across different areas of the Gulf of Guinea but always pursue the same goal: strengthening the ability of coastal states’ navies to cooperate and act jointly in the framework of state action at sea.
Source : Préfecture maritime de l’Atlantique
