Start of the Grand African NEMO 2026 exercise
From October 27 to November 6, 2026, the 9th edition of the major exercise Grand African NEMO 2026 (GANo 26), co-organized by the Command for the Atlantic (CECLANT) and the Yaoundé Maritime Security Architecture, will bring together 19 African navies and seven partner navies, including France’s.
The exercise will take place in a vast maritime area stretching from Senegal to Angola.
Thus, 60 naval units, ten aircraft, and numerous specialized onshore administrations will come together for one week to participate in the various exercises, all of which are designed in response to the security challenges faced by the nations in the region.
Since 2018, Grand African NEMO has become the major annual event for maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. This 8th edition, which brings together a particularly large number of military assets at sea, on land, and in the air, aims to share expertise and improve the operational level of each participant in the fight against illegal fishing, piracy, marine pollution, illegal trafficking, and maritime rescue.
GANo 26 will also benefit from the support of numerous partners: the European Union through the EnMar and SEACOP programmes in particular, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the Centre for Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution (CEDRE), the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (CSRP), the West-Central Fisheries Commission (CPCO), the Regional Fisheries Commission for the Gulf of Guinea (COREP), and the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA). Thanks to their driving role in the partnership arising from the 2013 Yaoundé Protocol, France, the Architecture, and all of their partners are making a decisive contribution to improving maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.
From October 27 to November 6, follow the news of the Grand African NEMO exercise on social media using the hashtag: #GANo26.
The Gulf of Guinea
Spanning 5,707 kilometers of the West African coastline from Senegal to Angola, the Gulf of Guinea is a strategic maritime region. Located at the crossroads of major shipping routes, the region holds significant natural resources, including petroleum, fisheries, and minerals, which make it an object of desire and foster the development of illicit activities.
The African NEMO Exercises
Since the 2013 Yaoundé Summit, the Commander for the Atlantic (CECLANT) has organized, as part of Operation Corymbe and in close coordination with the Yaoundé Architecture and its partners, numerous operational cooperation activities, as well as a major annual exercise, Grand African NEMO, which brings together a larger number of units and operational centers.
These recurring exercises alternate from one zone of the Gulf of Guinea to another but always with the same objective: to strengthen the ability of the navies of the riparian states to cooperate and act together within the framework of the state’s action at sea.
